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l^"'r-it'"le  la"      E:i»l  lr..m    34°  Ureenwuh 


r^^TURK  and  HIS 
LOST  PROVINCES 

GREECE 

BULGARIA 
S  E  R  VI  A 
BOSNIA 

BY 

WILLIAM  ELEROY  CURTIS 

Author  of  "The  True  Thomas  Jefferson"  ''The  Yankees  of  the 
East,"  "Between  the  Andes  and  the  Ocean,"  etc. 


SECOND  EDITION 
CHICAGO  NEW  YORK  TORONTO 

FLEMING     H.     REVELL     COMPANY 
LONDON       &      EDINBURGH 
MCMIII 


.\\\ 


Copyright,  1903,  by 

FI^EMING  H.  RBVEI.L  COMPANY 

{April) 


Chicago:  63  Washington  Street 
New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Toronto  27  Richmond  Street,  W 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh;    30   St.    Mary   Street 


PREFACE 

Von  Moltke,  the  great  German  soldier,  predicted 
that  a  universal  war  would  be  fought  under  the  walls 
of  Constantinople.  He  had  faith  that  the  Christian 
Powers  of  Europe,  sooner  or  later,  would  compel  the 
Turks  to  respect  their  moral,  political,  and  financial 
obligations.  This  would  have  been  done  years  ago 
but  for  the  jealousy  of  those  Powers,  and  the  thousands 
of  innocent  Macedonians  who  have  been  massacred 
and  the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  have  suffered  from 
Turkish  cruelty  are  the  victims  of  that  jealousy.  The 
Czar  would  intervene,  but  England,  France,  Austria, 
and  Germany  will  not  permit  him  to  do  so  for  fear 
Russia  will  obtain  a  port  upon  the  Mediterranean.  At 
intervals  the  uprisings  in  Macedonia  have  indicated  the 
approach  of  hostilities.  They  have  grown  more  fre- 
quent and  serious  until,  as  this  little  book  goes  to 
press,  Russia  and  Austria  have  demanded  a  better  gov- 
ernment for  Macedonia,  and  the  Sultan  has  responded 
by  ordering  250,000  Turkish  troops  into  that  province. 
Diplomatic  negotiations  and  empty  assurances  may 
again  avert  war,  but  every  sign  indicates  that  Von 
Moltke's  prophecy  is  soon  to  be  fulfilled.  The  purpose 
of  this  publication  is  to  give  English  readers  a  few 
facts  about  the  several  "buffer  states"  of  the  Balkan 
Peninsula  which  cannot  be  elsewhere  obtained.  It  is 
the  result  of  a  journey  through  that  peninsula  as  corre- 
spondent of  The  Chicago  Record-Herald,  and  although 
the  author  realizes  that  it  is  defective  and  incomplete, 
he  is  confident  that  the  American  public  will  appreciate 
his  efforts  to  give  them  the  timely  information  it 
contains. 

5 


CONTENTS 


THE  GREAT  TURK  AND  HIS  CAPITAL 

I.  The  Lost  Provinces 
n.  The  Turkish  Government    . 

III.  The  Sultan  and  His  Family 

IV.  The  Selamlik 
V.  The  City  of  the  Grand  Turk 

VI.  Scenes  in  Constantinople    . 
VII.   Mosques  and  Palaces  . 
VIII.   Robert  College  and  the  Missionaries 


13 

35 
54 
82 

91 

107 
126 
142 


BULGARIA 

IX.   Recent  History  and  Politics 
X.  The  People  of  Bulgaria 
XI.  The  Kidnaping  of  Miss  Stone 


.  165 
.  191 
.   217 


SERVIA 

XII.  The  Political  Situation  in  Servia 
XIII.  The  Capital  of  Servia 


243 

257 


BOSNIA 

XIV.  A  Remarkable  Example  of  Administration  273 


GREECE 

XV.   From  Corfu  to  Corinth 
XVI.   Modern  Athens    . 
XVII.  Shrines  and  Temples  . 


311 

332 
369 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Map Frontispiece 

A  Ghazi— a  Mohammedan  Fanatic    ....     Facing  Page  49 
Gate  to  Dalma  Baghtcheh  Palace,  Constantinople   ....     69 

A  Street  of  Constantinople .91 

The  Seraglio,  Constantinople 92 

Fire  Brigade,  Constantinople ,116 

BeylerBey  Palace,  Constantinople 132 

Sulieman  Mosque,  Constantinople 136 

Robert  College,  Constantinople 142 

Sofia,  the  Capital  of  Bulgaria 166 

House  of  the  Sobranje,  Sofia 176 

Monastery  of  St.  John  of  Ryle,  Bulgaria 186 

Royal  Palace  at  Sofia 197 

Business  Street  in  Sofia 198 

Military  Club  at  Sofia 200 

A  Macedonian  Ready  for  Revolution 239 

King  Alexander  of  Servia 248 

Prince  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria 248 

A  Glimpse  of  Modem  Belgrade 259 

Royal  Palace  at  Belgrade 260 

A  Glimpse  of  Old  Belgrade 262 

Government  Hotels,  Bosnia 296 

Jewish  Cemetery  in  Bosnia 299 

A  Young  and  an  Old  Corinthian 322 

Ruins  of  Ancient  Corinth 328 

Modern  Athens       332 

Modern  Athenians 335 

The  Museum  at  Athens 357 

Mars  Hill.  Athens 378 

Temple  of  Theseus,  Athens 380 


PART  I 

The  Great  Turk  and   His   Capital 


The  Turk  and  His  Lost  Provinces 
PART  I 

THE   GREAT  TURK   AND   HIS   CAPITAL 

I 

THE   LOST  PROVINCES 

The  next  battle-ground  of  Europe,  like  the  last, 
will  be  the  so-called  Balkan  Peninsula,  comprising  a 
group  of  petty  states  lying  south  of  Austria-Hungary, 
bounded  on  one  side  by  the  Adriatic,  on  the  other  by 
the  Black  Sea,  and  on  the  south  by  the  ^Egean  Sea. 
It  is  one  of  the  most  primitive,  yet  one  of  the  first 
settled  sections  of  Europe,  where  kings  and  queens  and 
courts  shone  resplendent  in  ermine  and  jewels  when 
Germany,  Great  Britain  and  France  were  still  overrun 
by  barbarians.  The  earliest  inhabitants  were  the 
Dacians  or  Getae,  who  had  reached  a  considerable 
degree  of  culture  when  we  first  hear  of  them,  from 
Pliny  and  Herodotus,  resisting  the  invasion  of  Darius, 
the  Persian,  five  centuries  before  Christ.  A  hundred 
years  later,  when  Philip  of  Macedon  besieged  one  of 
their  cities,  and  was  about  to  give  a  signal  for  the 
assault,  the  gates  opened  and  a  long  line  of  priests, 
clad  in  robes  of  snow-white  linen,  came  forth  with 
musical  instruments  in  their  hands,  singing  songs  of 
peace.  Philip  was  so  impressed  by  this  demonstration 
that  he  laid  down  his  sword,  married  the  daughter  of 
their  king,  and  entered  into  a  treaty  of  alliance  with 
them. 

13 


14      The  TURK  mid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

They  fought  Alexander  the  Great;  they  resisted  the 
Roman  legions;  and  Julius  Csesar  was  planning  a 
campaign  against  them  when  he  fell  in  the  forum  with 
the  dagger  of  Brutus  in  his  breast.  Trajan  subdued 
them,  and  the  story  of  his  marvelous  campaign  is 
carved  in  marble  upon  his  column  in  Rome.  Theirs 
was  the  last  province  to  be  added  to  the  Roman 
Empire  and  the  first  to  go  at  its  dissolution.  The  ter- 
ritory was  fought  over  at  frequent  intervals  by  con- 
tending forces  to  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
when,  one  after  another,  the  several  Christian  states 
which  composed  the  Bulgarian  Empire  were  subdued 
by  the  Ottoman  invaders  who,  in  1529  and  1683,  actu- 
ally reached  the  gates  of  Vienna.  For  nearly  five  cen- 
turies they  submitted  to  the  yoke  of  the  Sultan  and, 
like  all  his  subjects,  were  gradually  submerged  in 
political,  moral,  intellectual  and  commercial  oblivion. 
The  existence  of  the  once  powerful  people  was  almost 
forgotten.  They  lay  helpless  and  hopeless  under  the 
heel  of  a  vindictive  and  merciless  despot  until  what 
were  termed  "the  Bulgarian  atrocities"  excited  uni- 
versal horror  in  1875-77.  Then  Russia  intervened  on 
the  pretext  of  racial  and  religious  relationship,  and 
attempted  to  take  them  from  Turkey. 

The  original  Treaty  of  San  Stefano,  which  fixed  the 
terms  of  peace  exacted  by  the  Czar  from  the  Sultan, 
would  almost  have  restored  the  boundaries  of  the 
ancient  Bulgarian  Empire,  given  its  people  theoretical 
independence  under  his  protection,  and  reduced  Euro- 
pean Turkey  to  a  narrow  strip  of  territory;  but  the 
jealousy  of  the  other  Powers  would  not  permit  it. 
Russia  must  not  be  allowed  to  extend  her  sphere  of 
influence  towards  the  Mediterranean.  England  and 
Germany  interfered,  called  a  conference  of  nations  at 


THE    LOST  PROVINCES 


15 


Berlin,  tore  up  the  Treaty  of  San  Stefano,  restored  a 
large  area  to  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  left  a  group  of 
small,  weak  states  to  stand  as  a  buffer  between  the 
Sultan  and  his  aggressive  neighbors. 

This  was  done  upon  certain  conditions.  Positive 
pledges  were  exacted  from  the  Sultan  concerning  the 
administration  and  taxation  of  the  restored  provinces, 
particularly  that  the  inhabitants  should  be  given  relig- 
ious liberty,  and  be  governed  by  officials  of  their  own 
faith.  Not  one  of  these  conditions  has  been  fulfilled, 
and  the  most  appalling  injustice  and  cruelties  have 
been  practiced  year  after  year,  similar  to  those  which 
occurred  in  Bulgaria  and  provoked  the  Turko-Russian 
war.  Human  life  and  property  have  been  held  as 
worthless  by  the  Turkish  officials  and  military  garri- 
sons. No  woman  has  been  safe  from  their  lust.  No 
man  has  been  allowed  to  accumulate  property  or  to 
improve  his  condition  without  exciting  the  avarice  of 
the  tax-gatherer  and  the  military  commandant.  It  has 
been  useless  for  the  inhabitants  to  save  money  or  pro- 
duce more  than  enough  to  supply  their  own  wants,  for 
the  slightest  surplus  would  attract  attention  and  be 
stolen  from  the  owner.  The  Christian  population  have 
had  no  standing  in  the  courts  and  are  often  prohib- 
ited from  practicing  their  religion.  The  number  of 
lives  wantonly  taken,  the  number  of  homes  wantonly 
destroyed,  the  number  of  women  ravished  and  the 
number  of  children  butchered  in  the  Turkish  provinces 
of  Europe,  particularly  in  Rumelia,  where  the  popu- 
lation is  almost  entirely  Christian,  would  shock  the 
world  if  the  truth  were  known,  notwithstanding,  year 
after  year,  the  Powers  of  Europe  have  permitted  these 
barbarities  to  continue.  The  other  provinces,  Kosovo, 
Monastir,  Salonika  and  Scutari,  have  suffered  severely, 


1 6      7)&^TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

but  the  barbarities  have  not  been  so  extended  nor 
general;  and  they  are  not  in  such  a  state  of  anarchy, 
but  are  ripe  for  rebellion.  Macedonia,  as  Eastern 
Rumelia  is  familiarly  called,  is  the  center  of  dis- 
turbance. 

An  occasional  insurrection  or  lawless  incident  of 
which  a  foreigner  has  been  the  victim,  such  as  the  kid- 
naping of  Miss  Stone,  has  attracted  public  attention, 
and  frequent  written  protests  have  been  filed  at  the 
Sublime  Porte  by  the  ambassadors  at  Constantinople, 
in  which  the  Sultan  has  been  warned  that  the  atrocities 
would  not  longer  be  tolerated,  and  has  been  admonished 
to  repentance  and  reform.  But,  instead  of  improv- 
ing, the  conditions  have  grown  worse.  Each  of  these 
diplomatic  episodes  has  been  followed  by  more  serious 
exactions  and  persecutions.  Every  remonstrance  has 
been  the  signal  for  an  increase  of  the  military  garri- 
son in  Macedonia,  greater  restrictions  upon  the  liber- 
ties of  the  people,  and  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of 
patriots  who  were  suspected  of  having  inspired  the 
protests.  This  fact  is  well  known  at  every  embassy  in 
Constantinople  and  at  every  foreign  office  in  Europe, 
both  from  official  and  unofficial  information.  Every 
one  who  cares  to  know  the  truth  may  learn  it  without 
the  slightest  trouble. 

How  long  the  Powers  of  Europe  will  permit  the 
Sultan  to  defy  them  and  the  present  conditions  to 
continue  are  questions  often  asked  both  in  private  and 
in  public,  but  never  answered.  The  Powers  are  too  much 
engrossed  in  their  own  troubles  to  hear  the  cry  from 
Macedonia,  "Come  and  help  us!"  for  neither  their 
pride  nor  their  pockets  nor  their  politics  are  affected 
by  the  sufferings  of  a  distant  people  whose  commerce 
is  insignificant  and  who  have  no  influence  in  interna- 


THE    LOST  PROVINCES  17 

tional  affairs.  Russia  and  Greece  are  the  only  sym- 
pathetic nations.  They  belong  to  the  same  race  and 
profess  the  same  religion.  Greece,  being  feeble,  is 
powerless,  although  her  recent  disastrous  war  with 
Turkey  secured  the  partial  emancipation  of  Crete. 
The  Czar  would  instantly  go  to  the  relief  of  the  Mace- 
donians were  he  not  restrained  by  the  jealousy  of  Ger- 
many, Austria  and  England.  The  British  people  will 
stand  unmoved  and  permit  the  entire  Macedonian 
population  to  be  exterminated  rather  than  allow  Rus- 
sia to  gain  a  political  advantage  or  extend  her  bound- 
aries towards  the  Bosphorus.  Nor  will  Austria  allow 
any  interference  lest  her  manufacturers  lose  an  insig- 
nificant market, 

Austria  is  the  natural  protector  of  the  people  of  the 
Balkan  Peninsula,  and  her  administration  of  affairs  in 
Bosnia  has  been  remarkable  for  tact,  intelligence  and 
success.  If  she  were  allowed  to  extend  a  protectorate 
over  Servia,  Bulgaria,  Macedonia  and  the  other  coun- 
tries and  provinces,  and  introduce  among  them  the 
same  reforms  that  have  been  admirably  carried  out  in 
the  countries  on  the  Adriatic,  which  the  Berlin  Con- 
ference intrusted  to  her  care,  it  would  be  an  unmeas- 
ured blessing;  but  neither  Germany,  England  nor 
Russia  would  permit  such  an  arrangement. 

Germany  is  more  culpable  than  any  of  the  other 
nations,  because  its  government  sustains  and  protects 
the  Sultan  in  his  atrocious  policy  of  administration,  not 
only  in  Macedonia,  but  in  all  parts  of  the  "Near 
East."  No  diplomatist  of  ancient  or  modern  times 
has  been  more  shrewd  and  skillful  in  profiting  by  the 
rivalries  of  his  enemies.  He  knows  that  Germany  will 
not  allow  Russia,  England  or  Austria  to  punish  him; 
therefore   he  can   afford   to  defy  them,  and  treat   the 


1 8       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

remonstrances  of  their  ambassadors  with  contempt. 
It  must  amuse  His  Majesty  the  Sultan  to  read  the 
signature  of  the  German  ambassador  at  the  bottom  of 
the  frequent  diplomatic  notes  that  are  handed  to  him 
concerning  the  misgovernment  of  his  empire,  and  we 
can  imagine  his  large,  sad  eyes  grow  merry  at  the 
farces  so  frequently  enacted  at  the  Yildiz  Kiosk,  when 
the  representatives  of  the  Powers  appear  in  their 
radiant  uniforms,  as  they  often  do,  to  remonstrate 
against  his  inhumanity  to  his  Christian  subjects, 
and  the  massacres  that  are  committed  at  his  very 
doors.  He  realizes,  and  he  knows  that  they  realize, 
that  the  slightest  interference  by  force  on  the  part  of 
any  one  sovereign  will  provoke  another  and  even  more 
emphatic  remonstrance  elsewhere,  lest  some  political 
or  commercial  advantage  may  be  gained.  When  the 
situation  grows  serious,  however,  he  grants  another 
profitable  concession  to  some  German  syndicate  as  an 
additional  policy  of  insurance  against  intervention. 

The  continual  extension  of  German  enterprise  in  the 
Ottoman  Empire  makes  the  reform  of  abuses  more 
difficult  and  the  position  of  the  Sultan  more  secure.  If 
Germany  will  cultivate  his  good  will  to  obtain  con- 
cessions, their  possession  will  make  it  necessary  for 
Germany  to  protect  them.  The  invasion  of  Turkey  by 
a  foreign  army,  the  disturbance  of  commerce  and 
industrial  conditions,  would  be  a  serious  danger  to 
German  investments  already  there,  and  the  longer 
such  interference  is  postponed  the  more  serious  that 
danger  will  be,  because  those  investments  are  rapidly 
multiplying  and  gaining  in  importance.  The  peace 
of  Turkey  and  the  maintenance  of  present  conditions 
are  essential  to  their  profit.  Thus  the  Kaiser  stands 
as  the  nurse  of  the  Sick  Man  of  the  East. 


THE  LOST  PROVINCES  19 

There  are  few  German  investments  in  European 
Turkey,  because  the  anarchy  which  has  prevailed  there 
for  many  years  has  kept  capital  and  immigrants  away; 
but  throughout  the  other  Balkan  States  German  enter- 
prise is  taking  the  lead  in  every  line  of  trade  and  in- 
dustry, and  pushing  the  sales  of  German  goods.  In 
Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  Syria,  Palestine  and  other  parts 
of  Turkey,  the  Germans  are  already  numerous  and  are 
increasing.  They  have  greater  privileges  and  better 
advantages  than  any  other  class.  The  significance  and 
value  of  the  Kaiser's  friendship  for  the  Sultan  is  appre- 
ciated, not  only  by  the  officials,  but  by  the  public  at 
large,  and  for  that  reason  Germans  are  exempt  from 
many,  if  not  all,  of  the  annoyances  suffered  by  other 
foreigners. 

It  is  useless  to  speculate  as  to  what  might  happen 
if  the  friendship  of  the  German  Emperor  for  Abdul 
Hamid  were  withdrawn.  History  teaches  that  political 
problems  in  Turkey  cannot  be  solved  by  the  same 
rules  that  apply  to  other  countries.  The  Sultan  and 
his  ministers  are  not  to  be  considered  as  logical  or 
rational  beings.  The  extraordinary  skill  which  they 
have  displayed  in  eluding  the  frequent  crises  that 
have  occurred  in  recent  years,  offers  no  ground  upon 
which  to  base  a  prediction,  but  the  Germans  are  not 
to  be  involved  in  any  ordinary  complication.  The 
latest  episode  was  the  seizure  of  the  island  of  Mitylene 
by  a  French  fleet  to  enforce  the  payment  of  money  due 
French  contractors  who  built  the  docks  at  Salonika. 
The  Sultan  appealed  to  the  Kaiser  to  extend  his  good 
offices  in  arranging  an  amicable  settlement,  and  the 
German  Minister  of  Foreign  Relations  advised  the 
Turkish  ambassador  at  Berlin  to  pay  the  bill.  The 
bill   was    not  paid,   but    a  mortgage   upon   the  future 


20       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

receipts  of  a  Turkish  custom  house  was  given  instead, 
and  the  French  fleet  withdrew;  but  when  the  mortgage 
falls  due,  two  years  hence,  it  will  be  necessary  to  send 
another  fleet  to  collect  it,  for  the  Sultan  never  keeps 
his  promises  nor  pays  his  bills  until  he  is  com- 
pelled to.  The  Kaiser  is  too  shrewd  to  become 
invoh'ed  in  such  a  scandal;  but  if  the  French  go  so  far 
as  to  interfere  with  German  interests  in  Turkey  or  the 
Balkan  States,  they  will  undoubtedly  meet  with  resist- 
ance. 

The  desperate  state  of  affairs  in  Macedonia,  or  East- 
ern Rumelia,  as  that  province  is  named  on  the  map, 
is  attracting  no  marked  attention  in  Europe.  This 
apathy,  however,  cannot  long  continue,  for  sooner  or 
later  some  nation,  whether  from  humanity  or  selfishness, 
will  interfere  and  provoke  hostilities  in  which  all  the 
Powers  of  Europe  must  become  engaged.  The  seeds 
and  causes  of  conflict  are  there,  and  cannot  be  exter- 
minated without  a  struggle.  The  Austrians  could  do 
more  than  any  other  nation  were  they  permitted  to 
make  the  attempt.  They  have  already  demonstrated 
in  Bosnia  their  ability  to  regenerate  and  govern  a 
mongrel  population,  but  the  ambition  and  purpose  of 
Russia,  ever  since  the  Romanoff  dynasty  came  into 
power,  has  been  to  make  Constantinople  its  southern 
capital,  and  add  the  Ottoman  Empire  to  its  own. 

In  Bulgaria,  Servia  and  Roumania,  disorganization 
and  decay  are  advancing  more  rapidly  than  the  ele- 
ments of  progress.  These  nations  are  becoming  poorer 
and  weaker  because  of  misgovernment  for  which  there 
is  no  hope  of  reform.  Before  many  years  their  condi- 
tion will  have  reached  a  crisis  that  will  call  for  interven- 
tion. Russian  influence  is  now  supreme  in  Roumania 
and  Bulgaria,  and  the  Servians  are  willing  to  submit 


THE   LOST  PROVINCES  21 

to  Russian  domination  under  certain  contingencies; 
but  Austria  lies  just  across  the  Danube,  and,  as  the 
nearest  neighbor,  takes  a  deep  interest  in  Servian 
affairs. 

It  is  probable  that  trouble  will  ultimately  arise 
through  collisions  between  the  Bulgarian  patriots  and 
the  Turkish  troops  in  Macedonia.  They  occur  fre- 
quently. Scarcely  a  month  passes  without  a  skirmish 
upon  the  border  between  brigands,  as  they  are  usually 
called,  and  Turkish  military  guards.  Bulgarian  citi- 
zens are  being  arrested  continually  and  imprisoned  in 
Turkish  jails,  and  the  Bulgarian  government  is  always 
making  useless  protests  to  the  authorities  at  Constanti- 
nople. The  fact  that  Bulgaria  is  nominally  under  a 
Turkish  protectorate  complicates  matters  and  gives 
an  additional  excuse  for  hostilities  on  the  Turkish  side, 
for  the  tribute  which  was  agreed  upon  at  the  Berlin 
Conference  has  never  been  paid,  and  never  will  be. 
Even  if  there  were  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  the 
Bulgarians  to  comply  with  this  stipulation,  it  would 
be  difficult  for  them  to  raise  the  funds;  thus  the  debt 
continues  to  pile  up  year  after  year,  until  Turkey,  when 
the  Sultan  considers  it  wise  to  act,  willimake  a  demand 
and  call  upon  the  Powers  to  enforce  it. 

The  cas7is  belli  is  always  on  the  side  of  the  Turk. 
Bulgarians  are  continually  invading  Turkish  territory, 
and  it  is  the  policy  of  the  Sultan  to  shoot  them  when 
his  soldiers  can  catch  them,  and  say  nothing  about  it. 
If  Bulgaria  makes  a  complaint,  it  is  claimed  that  the 
dead  men  were  brigands,  caught  with  arms  in  their 
hands,  and  that  the  government  is  trying  to  sup- 
press brigandage.  Some  day,  however,  the  Bulgarian 
people  will  not  be  satisfied  with  this  answer.  They 
will   insist  that  their  government  demand  reparation 


22       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

from  Turkey,  and  make  a  hostile  demonstration  that 
shall  attract  the  attention  of  Europe.  If  Turkey  "calls 
the  bluff,"  and  sends  her  troops  over  the  border,  Bul- 
garia will  appeal  to  the  Powers  for  protection,  and  thus 
force  the  Macedonian  cause  upon  their  notice.  This 
would  have  occurred  long  ago  but  for  the  inability  of 
Bulgaria  to  raise  funds  to  equip  and  pay  her  army,  the 
indifference  of  Prince  Ferdinand  and  the  lack  of 
leadership.  The  influence  of  Russia  is  against  radical 
measures  also,  because  she  does  not  think  the  time  is 
ripe.  If  Stambouloff  had  lived,  the  situation  in  Bul- 
garia might  have  been  very  different  from  what  it  is 
to-day.  His  death  removed  the  chief  obstacle  to  Rus- 
sian domination  and  left  Bulgaria  a  mere  pawn  in  the 
great  game  of  diplomacy  which  the  Czar  is  now  play- 
ing with  the  other  sovereigns  of  Europe. 

An  American  gentleman  who  has  spent  his  life  in 
Turkey,  and  is  familiar  with  the  situation  throughout 
the  country,  describes  it  as  follows:  "The  state  of  the 
Turkish  Empire — morally,  socially,  financially  and 
politically — betokens  the  coming  of  a  night  of  anguish. 
In  every  department  of  government  the  amount  of 
shameless  iniquity  is  appalling.  Simony  and  bribery, 
treachery  and  extortion,  always  present,  but  once  wont 
to  hide  themselves,  have  lost  all  shame  and  fear  of  re- 
buke, and  are  hideous  in  their  ramifications.  Socially 
the  situation  everywhere  is  dismal.  You  read  of 
riots  and  bloodshed  in  Albania,  in  Montenegro,  along 
the  frontiers  of  Bulgaria,  and  more  recent  outrages  and 
bloodshed  in  Armenia.  Things  are  not  quite  so  bad  in 
Syria,  though  they  are  on  the  way  to  it.  During  the 
past  four  years  emissaries  from  Constantinople  of  a 
certain  type  have  sown  seeds  of  bitterness  among  the 
Moslems  and  Christians  until  their  relations  to  each 


THE    LOST  PROVINCES  23 

other  are  marked  with  unusual  hostility,  suspicion  and 
open  bloodshed.  Even  in  Beirut,  one  of  the  most 
peaceful  and  progressive  communities  in  the  empire, 
an  active  vendetta  is  in  progress  and  almost  nightly 
men  are  murdered.  No  one  is  punished,  no  one's  life 
is  safe.  It  would  seem  as  though  the  very  foundations 
of  the  social  fabric  had  fallen. 

"I  can  give  you  in  brief  the  reasons  why  this  awful 
state  of  affairs  will  continue:  The  corruption  of  the 
courts,  in  which  all  crimes  are  condoned  for  money. 
The  sole  ambition  of  the  unpaid  ofilicials,  after  the 
collection  of  the  exorbitant  taxes,  is  to  get  a  hold 
upon  citizens  of  every  degree  and  by  means  of  charges, 
false  or  true,  extort  money  from  them.  I  have  lived 
in  Turkey  more  than  eighteen  years,  and  have  yet  to 
hear  the  innocence  or  guilt  of  a  prisoner  or  criminal 
dwelt  upon.  The  officials  apparently  exult  in  the 
increase  of  crime,  caring  only  for  the  bribes  and  gifts 
resulting  therefrom,  while  the  wretched  people  caught 
seek  only  for  a  way  by  which  they  can  get  free  from 
the  clutches  of  these  minions  of  the  law.  No  one  ever 
places  any  moral  weight  on  the  judgments  delivered, 
for  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  a  hundred  they  are 
worse  than  worthless.  I  am  measuring  my  words  and 
know  whereof  I  speak. 

"The  second  fruitful  cause  is  the  centralization  of 
absolute  power  in  Constantinople  and  the  treacherous 
subversion  of  every  vestige  of  civil  rights  ever 
enjoyed  by  the  people.  The  present  Sultan,  years 
ago,  instituted  a  policy  by  which  he  was  to  become  the 
absolute  master  of  everything  in  the  empire.  The 
military  establishment,  in  its  six  great  divisions,  takes 
its  orders  direct  from  Abdul  Hamid.  Civil  affairs  are 
supposed   to    be    administered     through    the    vilayets 


24       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

(some  thirty-five  in  all).  In  former  times  the  chief 
officials,  civil  and  military,  were  almost  absolute  in 
their  departments  and  are  still  so  in  theory.  But  in 
recent  years  the  Sultan,  by  an  invidious  system  of 
imperial  iradcs  or  edicts,  has  filched  away  every  priv- 
ilege and  prerogative  of  these  provincial  officials. 
Constantinople  has  become  a  huge  auction-market 
where  every  position  in  the  empire  is  bought  or  sold 
for  a  price.  Worse  than  this  is  the  ominous  fact  that 
the  high  provincial  officials,  who  once  had  the  power 
to  punish  or  remove  a  disobedient  or  unworthy  subor- 
dinate, are  now  powerless  to  effect  any  reform.  When 
an  official  falls  under  their  displeasure  or  judgment,  the 
matter  must  be  referred  to  Constantinople.  The  delin- 
quent hurries  off  to  the  capital  and  returns  with  an 
imperial  rescript  in  his  hand,  confirming  him  in 
his  position  and  enabling  him  to  defy  courts  and  judg- 
ments, officials  and  public  opinion.  By  this  process 
the  Sultan  has  insidiously  undermined  and  completely 
overthrown  the  legitimate  form  of  government  and 
replaced  it  by  a  set  of  spies,  iniquitous  and  despicable 
beyond  description.  The  despotic  master  and  the 
irresponsible  clique  which  has  displaced  the  real  gov- 
ernment, have  now  extended  their  abominable  prac- 
tices and  travesty  of  justice  to  the  ends  of  the  empire. 
As  a  result  good  men  are  disheartened  and  are  leav- 
ing the  empire  by  thousands.  Everyone  who  ever 
expressed  dissatisfaction  with  the  present  regime  or 
sighs  for  reform  or  change  for  the  better  is  instantly 
branded  as  one  of  the  Young  Turkish  party  and  treated 
as  a  felon.  So  the  empire  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  worst  elements — parasites  and  sycophants  who  are 
mocking  and  baffling  one  another  in  every  department, 
while  the  common  people  are  trampled  under  foot. 


THE   LOST   PROVINCES 


25 


"The  third  cause  of  corruption  and  lawlessness  is,  if 
possible,  worse  than  all.  Immediately  after  the  mas- 
sacres in  Armenia  and  Constantinople  there  were  thou- 
sands of  soldiers,  military  officers  and  civil  officials 
whose  hands  were  dyed  with  innocent  human  blood, 
and  whose  pockets  and  houses  were  filled  with  the 
accursed  plunder  which  they  were  allowed  to  take  as 
their  reward.  Fearing  at  that  time  that  the  Powers 
might  seek  the  punishment  of  these  red-handed  mur- 
derers, the  Sultan  began  a  wholesale  shifting  of  them 
to  all  parts  of  the  empire,  so  that  in  every  district  we 
have  thousands  of  these  brutes  who  participated  in  the 
killing  of  100,000  Armenians.  No  one  was  ever  pun- 
ished, no  one  was  ever  rebuked.  Europe,  in  her  piti- 
ful jealousies,  failed  to  exact  punishment  for  anyone. 
In  a  little  time  the  Sultan  and  all  his  miserable  crew 
came  to  glory  in  this  colossal  crime.  But  retribution 
is  coming.  The  Albanians  and  the  Kurds,  after  such 
orgies  of  lawlessness  and  bloodshed,  rapine  and  plun- 
der, could  never  be  expected  to  relapse  into  law-abid- 
ing citizens  of  any  empire,  and  so  they  are  completely 
out  of  hand  and  at  this  moment  shaking  off  the  last 
shadow  of  control  from  Constantinople.  Those  parts 
of  the  empire  which  were  once  safe  and  law-abiding 
are  now  preyed  upon  by  treacherous  spies  and  men 
whose  sense  of  decency  and  justice  was  forever  blotted 
out  by  their  acts  in  Armenia.  So  neither  Europe  nor 
the  world  need  express  any  surprise  as  the  hand  of  God 
rolls  up  the  stormclouds  of  retribution  and  smites  the 
empire  with  the  awful  agonies  of  the  coming  night." 

Unspeakable  horrors  have  been  constantly  occurring 
in  this  corner  of  the  earth,  and  will  continue  to  occur 
so  long  as  Turks  are  permitted  to  govern  Christian 
communities.     The  present  management  of  the  Mace- 


26      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

donian  Committee  is  patriotic,  unselfish  and  honest. 
The  previous  administration  was  corrupt  and  vicious, 
but  no  one  will  suggest  that  the  sufferings  of  the 
Christian  citizens  of  Turkish  provinces  should  be  pro- 
longed, even  though  bandits  and  blackmailers  may  be 
interested  in  their  redemption.  The  world  owes  a 
duty  to  the  people  of  Macedonia.  So  far  as  Armenia 
is  concerned,  anything  more  than  diplomatic  interven- 
tion is  impracticable,  and  civilized  nations  can  only 
continue  to  exert  moral  pressure  on  the  Sultan  in  its 
behalf.  But  Macedonia  is  in  an  entirely  different 
position.  There  will  be  no  difficulty  in  reaching  the 
sufferers  with  a  fleet  or  an  army  of  rescue  if  necessary, 
because  its  ports  are  on  this  side  of  the  Dardanelles, 
and  the  continued  violation  of  treaty  stipulations  will 
justify  forcible  interference.  Every  day  the  situation 
becomes  more  and  more  serious,  the  necessity  for 
action  more  urgent. 

The  number  of  Bulgarians  and  other  Christians  mas- 
sacred in  Rumelia  and  other  Turkish  provinces  will 
never  be  known.  There  is  no  hope  that  time  will 
effect  any  change  for  the  better.  The  motives  for 
murder,  torture  and  oppression  are  too  deep-seated 
for  moral  suasion  or  diplomatic  negotiation  to  reach. 
So  long  as  the  Christians  submit  patiently  to  every 
wrong  that  may  be  inflicted  upon  them,  so  long  will 
they  be  permitted  to  live;  but,  in  the  eyes  of  the 
Mohammedans,  they  have  forfeited  their  lives  by 
accepting  the  faith  of  the  Greek  or  the  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church,  and  so  often  as  an  excuse  is  offered  it 
becomes  a  religious  duty  to  exterminate  them.  Just  as 
Saul  was  bidden  to  smite  the  Amalekites,  and  to  slay 
both  man  and  woman,  infant  and  suckling,  ox  and 
sheep,  camel  and  ass,  so  does  the  Koran  admonish  the 


THE   LOST  PROVINCES  27 

faithful  to  remove  unbelievers  from  the  earth.  Hence 
it  is  absurd  for  the  Powers  of  Europe  to  wrangle  with 
the  Turks  concerning  the  principles  of  good  govern- 
ment or  the  introduction  of  reforms. 

Not  one  of  the  many  stipulations  in  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin  has  ever  been  faithfully  fulfilled;  not  one  of  the 
reforms  demanded  has  ever  been  actually  carried  out 
by  the  Turkish  authorities.  It  is  true  that  a  Christian 
was  appointed  governor-general  and  served  in  that 
capacity  for  five  years;  but  he  was  a  cowardly  creature 
and  permitted  himself  to  be  used  as  a  screen  to  shield 
Mohammedan  subordinates  who  murdered,  robbed  and 
tortured  the  members  of  his  own  faith.  ''The  Bul- 
garian atrocities''  perpetrated  between  1865  and  1875 
have  been  repeated  in  Macedonia,  and  the  population 
of  that  province  has  been  largely  reduced  by  massacre 
and  persecution  until  several  sections  are  now  entirely 
deserted  by  their  former  Christian  inhabitants.  Every 
form  of  tyranny  and  brutality  has  prevailed.  One 
record  shows  15,000  victims  during  the  last  ten  years. 
If  a  faithful  Moslem  covets  the  property  of  his  Chris- 
tian neighbor  it  is  only  necessary  to  denounce  him  for 
"discontent  '  before  the  nearest  magistrate,  and  the 
soldiers  will  do  the  rest. 

The  inhabitants  of  Macedonia,  as  previously  stated, 
are  of  the  same  stock,  profess  the  same  religion,  speak 
the  same  language,  and  have  the  same  customs  as 
the  Bulgarians.  They  are  generally  intermarried, 
so  that  the  persecutions  are  a  matter  of  family  as 
well  as  national  concern.  Ever  since  the  refusal  of 
the  Berlin  Conference  to  include  Eastern  Rumelia  in 
the  Bulgarian  Kingdom,  the  people  of  both  countries 
have  been  determined  to  bring  about  annexation  by 
force,    and,    soon    after    the   recognition    of   the    Bui- 


28       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

garian  government,  an  organization  was  formed  to 
promote  that  cause.  It  is  known  as  the  Macedonian 
Committee.  Its  headquarters  are  at  Sofia,  Bulgaria, 
occupying  the  second  floor  of  one  of  the  most  con- 
spicuous buildings  in  the  center  of  the  city.  No 
secrecy  is  attempted.  The  meetings  are  open  to 
the  public,  their  proceedings  are  published  in  the 
newspapers,  the  names  of  the  officers  and  committees 
appear  upon  every  document  issued,  and  a  weekly 
periodical,  maintained  in  the  interest  of  the  cause, 
usually  contains  lists  of  contributors  to  its  support  and 
signed  articles  by  prominent  agitators.  Branch 
organizations  exist  in  every  community.  There  is  not 
a  village  in  Bulgaria  without  one,  and  the  membership 
includes  at  least  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the  Bulgarian 
people.  The  organization  is  non-partisan,  and  has  the 
tacit  support  of  the  government,  being  composed  of 
members  of  all  political  parties — both  the  opponents 
and  the  supporters  of  the  present  administration. 

Until  1901  some  of  the  managers  were  disreputable 
persons,  and  were  guilty  of  practices  which  brought 
the  committee  and  the  cause  into  contempt.  The  late 
president,  Boris  Sarafoff,  was  a  notorious  gambler  and 
dissolute  politician.  His  reputation  was  such  that 
people  would  no  longer  contribute  money.  He  squan- 
dered every  dollar  he  could  control,  and,  in  order  to 
obtain  funds  for  the  support  of  himself  and  his  asso- 
ciates, adopted  a  bold  system  of  blackmail.  He  even 
went  so  far  as  to  threaten  a  high  officer  of  the  govern- 
ment with  personal  injury  if  he  declined  to  contribute, 
and  gave  notice  that  he  would  kidnap  the  child  of  a 
Sofia  banker  unless  a  large  sum  was  paid  into  the 
Macedonian  Committee's  treasury.  When  these  prac- 
tices became   known    in   the   community  there  was  a 


THE   LOST  PROVINCES  29 

thorough  overhauling  of  the  organization  and  Stoyan 
Mikhailovsky  was  elected  president.  He  is  a  literary 
man  of  high  character,  and  enjoys  universal  respect  and 
confidence,  being  the  most  eminent  writer  and  poet  in 
Bulgaria,  as  well  as  an  orator  and  scholar.  His  asso- 
ciates in  the  management  of  affairs  are  men  of  similar 
ability  and  reputation,  but,  upon  taking  charge,  they 
found  the  treasury  empty  and  the  accounts  in  such 
confusion  that  they  were  unable  to  make  a  financial 
statement  to  their  supporters.  Under  the  administra- 
tion of  Sarafoff,  the  worst  elements  in  Bulgaria 
obtained  control  and  the  local  organization  at  Sama- 
kof,  or  Samacov,  as  it  appears  on  some  of  the  maps, 
was  undoubtedly  responsible  for  the  kidnaping  of 
Miss  Stone. 

We  do  not  know  definitely  what  is  being  done  in 
Macedonia  to  prepare  for  a  revolution,  but  it  is  no 
secret  that  the  entire  province  is  practically  in  a  state  of 
anarchy,  and  whenever  an  opportunity  is  offered  it 
will  occur.  In  the  spring  of  1901  the  treasury  of  the 
Macedonian  Committee  at  Sofia  was  stripped  of  every 
dollar  by  the  rascals  who  had  charge  of  its  affairs,  and 
the  difficulties  of  raising  funds  have  seriously  increased 
since  the  scandalous  disclosures  made  at  that  time. 
Nevertheless  the  committee  has  renewed  its  activity 
and  is  making  energetic  preparations  in  anticipation  of 
an  outbreak.  No  secrecy  is  attempted  with  regard  to 
revolutionary  operations  in  Bulgaria.  The  propa- 
ganda is  carried  on  with  the  greatest  publicity.  But 
all  movements  on  the  Macedonian  side  of  the  moun- 
tains are  covered  with  mystery.  Conscious  of  danger, 
the  Turkish  authorities  in  Macedonia  are  vigilant  and 
constantly  engaged  in  efforts  to  suppress  the  proposed 
revolt.     For  several  years  the  Macedonians  have  been 


30       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

organized  and  arms  and  ammunition  have  been  dis- 
tributed among  them.  They  drill  in  the  forests  by 
night  and  bury  their  guns  and  cartridges  among  the 
roots  of  the  trees.  This  is  an  ancient  custom,  and 
strangers  riding  through  the  country  often  have  their 
attention  directed  to  ancient  oaks  which  bear  signs  to 
mark  the  spot  where  arms  have  been  concealed. 

When  the  struggle  does  come  the  Macedonians  will 
fight  to  the  finish.  After  five  centuries  of  Turkish 
bondage  they  ha\e  become  convinced  that  it  is  better 
to  die  than  to  live  under  present  conditions.  Deserted 
farms  and  heaps  of  ashes  indicate  where  the  Turks 
have  been  administering  discipline.  The  Turkish 
officials  spare  neither  women  nor  children,  and  make 
no  distinction  between  Bulgarians  and  Greeks.  Every 
person  who  does  not  profess  their  faith  is  an  infidel  fit 
only  to  die  the  death,  and  must  submit  to  their  lust, 
cruelty  and  extortion.  No  Christian  woman  in  Mace- 
donia can  be  protected  from  the  passion  of  the  Turkish 
soldiers  and  officials,  and  the  thresholds  of  thousands 
of  homes  are  slippery  with  the  blood  of  husbands  and 
fathers  who  have  died  defending  the  honor  of  their 
wives  and  daughters.  But  the  Turks  have  a  way  of 
accomplishing  their  purpose  without  the  apparent  use 
of  force. 

If  a  Turk  finds  a  Christian  woman  who  pleases  his 
fancy  it  is  only  necessary  for  him  to  have  her  sum- 
moned before  the  nearest  magistrate  and  asked  if  she 
desires  to  become  his  wife.  If  she  consents  the  mar- 
riage ceremony  is  performed  at  once.  If  she  refuses 
persecution  begins — not  only  herself,  but  her  father, 
mother,  brothers  and  sisters  are  arrested  for  fictitious 
offenses  and  thrown  into  prison.  They  may  be  accused 
of  treason  and  shot;  they  may  be  fined  the  entire  value 


THE  LOST  PROVINCES  31 

of  their  property,  cind  made  to  suffer  other  penalties 
which   the  Turks  show  great    ingenuity  in   devising 
Some  women  yield  to  save  their  families,  and  are  selt- 
condemned  to  spend  their  lives  in  the  perpetual  slavery 
of  the  harem,  but  usually  the  entire  family  abandons 
everything,  and  flees  across  the  boundary  into  Bulgaria 
with  only  such   property  as  can  be  carried  in    their 
hands,  to  begin  life  over  again  under  the  protection  of 
the  Bulgarian  authorities  and  among  sympathetic  sur- 
roundings     The  Turkish  officials  invariably  confiscate 
any  property  that  may  be  left.     Southern  Bulgaria  is 
full  of  such  refugees.     A  friend  told  me  that  more  than 
a  dozen  families  within  his  own  personal  acquaintance 
had  been  compelled  to  abandon  their  homes  in  Mace- 
donia for  this  reason  alone,  and  within  the  limits  of 
Bulgaria  are  several  thousand  similar  cases.     Young 
women  actually  disfigure  themselves  that  their  attrac- 
tions may  not  excite  the  admiration  of  the  Turk. 

A  gentleman  who  recently  passed    through   Mace- 
donia told  me  of  a  spectacle  he  saw  with  his  own  eyes 
and  an  experience  which  can  never  be  forgotten.     He 
says  that,  stopping  for  a  drink  of  water  at  a  roadside 
cabin,  he  saw  evidences  of  a  recent  disturbance,  and, 
as    no  one  responded  to  his   knock   at  the  door,    he 
entered.     Seated  upon  a  rude  bench  was  a  wild-eyed 
woman   holding  to  her  breast  the  body  of   a  young 
babe,  whose  head  had  been  crushed  by  a  cruel  blow, 
and  whose  face  was  stained  with  fresh  blood.     Upon 
the  floor  in  the  corner  of  the  room  was  the  mutilated 
body  of  a  young  peasant,  the  face  hacked  by  scimiters 
until  it  was  beyond  recognition,  while  the   abdomen 
had  been  ripped  up  until  the  bowels  protruded.     The 
woman  was  evidently  insane  from  fear  and  grief,  and 
the  fact  that  she  was  unharmed  was  construed  by  the 


6- 


The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 


guide  to  mean  that  she  was  absent  when  a  troop  of 
Turkish  soldiers,  passing  by,  had  stopped  at  her  home 
long  enough  to  murder  her  husband  and  child.  The 
cause  could  only  be  inferred.  The  man  was  said  to  be 
an  industrious,  honest,  well-to-do  peasant,  who  had 
married  the  comely  daughter  of  a  prosperous  neighbor 
about  three  years  before.  The  neighbors  dared  not 
discuss  the  occurrence,  but  from  the  little  information 
he  could  obtain  it  was  not  unusual.  The  people  are 
accustomed  to  such  tragedies.  The  man  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Greek  Church,  and  the  Turkish  soldiers 
killed  him  and  his  child  because  he  either  refused  to 
renounce  his  faith  or  because  they  supposed  he  had 
hidden  his  handsome  wife  at  their  approach. 

Much  of  the  trouble  is  due  to  the  desire  of  Turkish 
officials  and  soldiers  to  secure  the  daughters  of  Chris- 
tian families  for  their  harems.  Is  it  any  wonder,  then, 
that  the  women  of  Bulgaria  and  Macedonia  have  taken 
the  sword  in  their  own  hands  and  defended  their  homes 
and  their  persons  with  the  courage  and  the  strength  of 
men?  We  read  of  a  band  of  Bulgarian  Amazons  who 
performed  such  prodigies  of  valor  in  one  of  the  revolu- 
tions years  ago  that,  when  they  were  finally  overcome, 
the  Turks  impaled  them  alive  before  the  gates  of  the 
governor's  palace  and  placed  their  heads  upon  the 
town  walls. 

The  rebellious  provinces  have  a  population  of  about 
4,000,000,  three-fourths  of  whom  are  Christians  and 
one-fourth  Turks.  Almost  two-thirds  are  of  Bulgarian 
ancestry,  and,  naturally,  the  people  of  Bulgaria  have  a 
deeper  sympathy  for  them  than  have  those  of  other 
nations.  A  portion  of  Macedonia  formerly  belonged 
to  Servia  and  the  remainder  to  Bulgaria.  If  it  were 
understood  that,   in  the    event  of  emancipation  from 


THE   LOST  PROVINCES 


33 


Turkish  rule,  the  province  would  be  divided  upon 
ancient  lines,  the  Serbs  would  doubtless  lend  their 
assistance  and  rcenforce  the  Bulgarians;  but  unless 
some  such  understanding  can  be  reached  in  advance 
the  Serbs  might  resist  Bulgaria,  because  of  neighborly 
jealousy,  and  aid  Turkey  to  suppress  the  revolt  by 
making  war  upon  Bulgaria,  The  present  committee 
advocates  Macedonian  independence  on  the  same  basis 
as  that  of  Servia,  Bulgaria  and  Roumania,  and  its 
local  newspaper  organ  asserts  that  it  would  be  the 
crime  of  crimes  to  involve  these  three  nations  in  a  war. 

Entirely  disinterested  judgment  would  suggest  that 
the  province  of  Rumelia  should  be  placed  under  the 
protection  of  Austria,  Germany  or  England;  or,  if  that 
could  not  be  permitted,  that  it  should  be  governed  by 
the  Swiss,  the  Danes  or  the  Dutch,  who  have  no 
political  interests  at  stake.  The  people  are  not  fit 
for  self-government,  while  the  old  policy  of  trying  to 
reform  the  Turkish  administration  is  criminal  folly. 
Improvement  will  appear,  however,  the  moment  the 
curse  of  centuries  is  withdrawn,  and  the  ground  left 
free  for  wise,  honest  and  just  administration.  Peace- 
ful Moslems  should,  of  course,  be  permitted  to  pursue 
their  vocations  and  practice  their  religious  rites,  as  in 
Bosnia.  Religous  freedom  should  be  the  fundamental 
condition,  but  the  Turkish  pashas  and  bashi-bazouks, 
and  every  ofTficial  of  Islam  faith  should  be  compelled  to 
disappear,  never  to  return. 

If  Russia  could  be  induced  to  extend  her  influence  in 
Armenia,  which  no  other  power  can  approach  without 
crossing  foreign  territory,  and  permit  Austria  to  con- 
trol the  Balkan  Peninsula,  there  might  be  peace;  but 
Russia  is  indifferent  to  the  Armenians,  because  they 
do  not  belong  to  her  race,  nor  profess   her  rtjligion, 


34      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

while  the  populations  of  the  Balkan  States  are  almost 
exclusively  Slavs  and  members  of  the  orthodox  Greek 
Church.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  political 
aggressiveness  of  the  Russians,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  rulers,  statesmen  and  people  of  that  empire 
have  always  shown  active  sympathy  for  oppressed 
Christians,  and  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
Alexander  II.  entered  upon  the  war  with  Turkey  in 
1877  as  if  it  were  a  holy  crusade.  The  religious  rela- 
tion gives  Russia  an  advantage  over  Austria,  because 
the  latter  is  a  Roman  Catholic  country,  and  very  few 
members  of  that  faith  are  found  in  Bulgaria  or  the 
Turkish  provinces.  Neither  Russia  nor  Austria  would 
consent  to  British  domination  in  the  Balkans,  but 
they  might  yield  their  own  claims  in  favor  of  a  protec- 
torate by  one  of  the  smaller  nations,  such  as  Switzer- 
land, Denmark  or  the  Netherlands. 


II 


THE  TURKISH   GOVERNMENT 

The  Sultan  of  Turkey  is  a  good  deal  like  President 
Cleveland,  in  that  he  tries  to  look  after  the  details  of 
his  government  himself.  President  Cleveland  used  to 
sit  up  all  night  sometimes  examining  the  recommen- 
dations of  postofflce  candidates  because  he  felt  a  per- 
sonal responsibility  in  the  selection  of  good  men, 
which  he  could  not  delegate  to  the  ofificials  of  the 
postofifice  department.  He  used  to  read  all  the  evi- 
dence and  other  documents  .connected  with  pardon 
cases,  because  he  could  not  trust  the  judgment  of  the 
attorney-general  and  the  ofificials  in  the  department  of 
justice.  He  frequently  sent  for  the  papers  relating  to 
Indian  contracts,  public  lands  and  other  matters  of 
business  which  no  President  before  him  ever  investi- 
gated personally,  but  he  knew  more  about  what  was 
going  on,  and  had  more  influence  with  his  own  admin- 
istration, as  President  Lincoln  used  to  say,  than  any 
other  man.  The  Sultan  of  Turkey  has  a  similar  dis- 
position, but  a  different  motive.  He  trusts  nobody, 
although  everybody  succeeds  finally  in  deceiving 
him.  He  endeavors  to  do  everything  himself  and  to 
attend  to  all  the  details,  but  never  goes  anywhere  and 
is  compelled  to  depend  upon  his  ministers  and  other 
subordinates  to  see  that  his  orders  are  carried  out. 
Therefore  most  of  his  labor  is  wasted  and  the  people 
suffer  the  consequences. 

For  example,  recently  a  bridge  over  a  river  in  Asia 
Minor  was  carried  away  by  a  flood  and   the  people 

35 


36      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

came  down  to  Constantinople  with  a  petition  for  a 
new  one,  because  all  such  things  are  within  the  Sul- 
tan's personal  jurisdiction  and  can  only  be  done  by  his 
orders.  He  read  the  petition  and  heard  the  commit- 
tee, and,  casting  his  eyes  over  the  map  they  had  sub- 
mitted, suggested  that  the  new  bridge  be  built  at 
another  place.  It  was  somewhat  distant  from  the  old 
one  and  in  a  situation  more  liable  to  danger  from 
floods.  At  the  same  time  it  was  very  inconvenient 
for  the  public;  but  nobody  dare  tell  the  Sultan  so,  or 
even  question  the  accuracy  of  his  judgment.  So  a 
new  bridge  was  erected  at  the  new  location  and  a  few 
weeks  later  it  was  carried  away  like  the  first.  The 
people  came  back  to  the  Sultan.  He  refused  to 
receive  them  and  sent  word  that  he  had  given  them  a 
new  bridge  and  that  they  ought  to  be  thankful  and 
ask  no  more  of  him.  Since  then  the  population  of 
that  district  has  been  compelled  to  cross  the  river  in 
small  boats  because  the  government  will  not  build 
another  bridge  for  them  and  will  not  allow  them  to 
build  one  for  themselves.  That  is  about  the  way  the 
government  of  Turkey  is  managed;  a  fair  sample  of 
maladministration  that  applies  to  every  department. 

Up  the  Golden  Horn  is  a  navy  yard,  with  a  fine 
marble  building  for  the  headquarters  of  the  admiralty, 
a  school  for  the  education  of  officers,  barracks  for  the 
accommodation  of  sailors,  a  hospital  for  the  sick,  and 
a  long  line  of  sheds  and  shops  for  the  construction  and 
repair  of  ships,  and  an  enormous  amount  of  money  is 
expended  annually  for  the  maintenance  of  ships  which 
are  supposed  to  be  in  commission,  but  cannot  be  used 
because  their  engines,  boilers  and  other  machinery  are 
useless.  Some  of  them  have  no  smoke-stacks.  They 
lie  at  anchor  where  the  Sultan  can  see  them  through  a 


THE   TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  37 

glass  from  a  certain  point  in  the  park  that  surrounds 
his  palace,  and  he  supposes  them  to  be  in  full  com- 
mission and  ready  for  active  service.  He  gives  the 
minister  of  marine  every  year  money  to  pay  for  coal 
that  is  never  bought,  for  provisions  and  other  supplies 
for  crews  that  do  not  exist,  and  for  repairs  that  are 
never  made.  The  shops  are  idle  and  empty,  although 
he  believes  them  to  be  filled  with  busy  workmen. 
According  to  the  official  register,  the  Turkish  navy 
consists  of  eighteen  cruisers  of  from  2,000  to  8,000 
tons,  twelve  coast-defense  ships,  six  gunboats  and 
twenty-six  torpedo  boats,  but  all  are  useless  except 
a  few  small  torpedo  and  gunboats  stationed  at  dif- 
ferent ports  along  the  coast.  The  annual  allotment 
of  money  for  the  supplies  of  the  navy  is  about  1^3,200,- 
000,  but,  according  to  the  popular  impression,  a  very 
small  part  of  it  is  ever  applied  to  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  intended.  The  navy  yard  on  the  Golden 
Horn  is  the  most  extraordinary  marine  morgue  in 
existence.  Long  rows  of  vessels  of  the  most  anti- 
quated pattern  lie  side  by  side,  stripped  of  their 
machinery  and  equipments  and  fit  only  to  be  knocked 
to  pieces  for  junk.  Students  of  marine  architecture 
will  find  there  types  of  vessels  that  have  not  been 
used  for  a  century,  and  the  Sultan  still  appropriates 
money  to  maintain  them.  But  even  the  most  modern 
vessels,  built  during  the  late  war  with  Greece,  have 
been  stripped  of  everything  portable  by  officers  and 
sailors  whose  wages  have  not  been  paid.  The  Sultan 
does  not  know  anything  about  it.  He  depends  upon 
his  minister  of  marine,  who  gives  him  such  informa- 
tion as  he  thinks  advisable,  and  is  supposed  to  rob  him 
right  and  left. 

Hassan  Pasha  has  the  reputation  of  being  the  richest 


7,S      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

and  the  most  corrupt  official  in  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment. He  is  supposed  to  be  worth  $4,000,000  or 
$5,000,000,  all  of  which  he  has  acquired  while  in  the 
service  of  the  government.  He  has  great  influence 
with  the  Sultan.  The  latter  considers  him  one  of  his 
most  lo}-al  and  efficient  officers  and  trusts  him  implic- 
itly. It  is  said  that  Hassan  would  like  to  resign  and 
enjoy  his  money  in  London  or  Paris,  but  dare  not  do 
so.  The  moment  he  suggested  any  such  idea  the 
Sultan's  suspicions  would  be  excited,  and  it  would  be 
dangerous  for  Hassan  to  retire,  because  his  successor 
would  discover  what  has  been  going  on  in  the  navy 
department,  and  Hassan's  head  and  his  money  would 
both  be  in  danger.  Many  other  pashas  are  very  rich, 
but  they  send  their  money  out  of  the  country  as  a  pre- 
caution, for  they  never  know  when  they  may  forfeit 
their  sovereign's  favor,  and  that  usually  means  the 
confiscation  of  their  estates  and  perhaps  decapitation 
or  imprisonment  for  life.  When  a  prominent  man  dis- 
appears in  Turkey  no  questions  are  asked.  It  is 
impolitic  to  be  inquisitive. 

Said  Pasha,  the  grand  vizier,  is  believed  to  be  an 
honest  man.  He  is  one  of  the  few  prominent  officials 
of  the  government  who  has  not  amassed  a  fortune  while 
in  office.  For  his  honesty  and  other  reasons  he  has 
many  bitter  and  revengeful  enemies.  Six  years  ago, 
when  he  was  grand  vizier,  he  endeavored  to  punish 
certain  influential  pashas  for  robbing  the  government. 
They  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  against  him  and  got  the 
ear  of  the  Sultan,  who  believed  their  statements,  and 
sent  the  Kapii-aghasi,  chief  of  the  white  eunuchs  and 
first  officer  of  the  imperial  bedchamber— the  Sultan's 
most  confidential  man — to  summon  Said  Pasha  to  his 
presence.     The  Kapii-aghasi  is  always  an  unwelcome 


THE   TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  39 

messenger,  because  the  Sultan  trusts  him  when  he  will 
trust  nobody  else.  When  he  carries  a  message  it  has 
unusual  significance. 

Said  Pasha  understood  the  situation,  and,  instead  of 
going  to  the  palace,  sought  an  asylum  at  the  British 
embassy,  where  Lord  Dufferin,  then  ambassador, 
gave  him  protection.  Nobody  knew  what  had  become 
of  the  grand  vizier  until  after  seven  days,  when  he  sent 
a  carefully  prepared  report  of  his  proceedings  and  the 
motives  for  the  conspiracy  against  him  to  the  Sultan 
by  the  hand  of  the  British  ambassador.  The  latter 
explained  to  the  Sultan  his  opinion  of  the  case,  and 
vouched  for  Said  Pasha  as  an  honest,  truthful  and 
loyal  man.  The  Sultan  was  not  convinced,  but  agreed 
to  accept  Said  Pasha's  resignation  without  further  pro- 
ceedings, and  gave  a  formal  assurance  that  if  his 
former  prime  minister  left  the  embassy  and  returned 
to  his  own  home  he  would  not  be  injured.  Lord 
Dufferin  notified  the  Sultan  that  the  British  govern- 
ment would  hold  him  responsible  for  any  injury  that 
Said  Pasha  might  suffer,  and  that  in  case  of  his  death 
not  even  a  plea  of  sickness  would  be  accepted.  From 
that  hour  Said  Pasha  was  the  safest  man  in  Turkey. 
The  Sultan  sent  his  own  physician  and  two  of  his  most 
trusted  aides-de-camp  to  live  in  his  house  to  protect 
him,  and,  adopting  Lord  Dufferin's  suggestion,  made 
an  investigation  of  the  charges  against  him.  Nobody 
knows  how  he  got  at  the  facts,  but  he  executed  some 
of  his  new  favorites,  sent  others  into  exile  and  finally 
restored  Said  Pasha  to  power  and  gave  him  his  confi- 
dence as  fully  as  he  ever  gives  it  to  any  one. 

It  is  said  that  Shanghai,  China,  is  the  dirtiest  city 
in  the  world,  that  Peking  is  ten  times  as  dirty  as 
Shanghai,  and   that  Canton   is   ten   times  as  dirty  as 


40      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Peking:  but  Constantinople  is  as  dirty  as  all  the  rest 
of  them  put  together,  and  the  pavements  are  simply 
horrible.  Yet  the  Sultan,  who  has  never  ridden  about 
his  capital,  is  laboring  under  the  delusion  that  it  is 
well  paved  and  sweet  and  clean.  Several  years  ago  he 
took  a  notion  to  go  by  carriage  instead  of  by  boat  to 
Seraglio  Point  upon  his  annual  pilgrimage  to  worship 
before  the  holy  mantle  of  the  Prophet  Mohammed, 
and  the  ofificers  of  the  municipal  government  covered 
the  pavement  of  the  streets  through  which  he  was  to 
pass  with  fine  sand  two  or  three  inches  deep.  This 
not  only  concealed  the  filth,  but  made  a  smooth  and 
comfortable  track  for  his  carriage.  The  Sultan  was 
delighted,  and  gave  instructions  to  fix  all  the  streets  in 
Constantinople  in  the  same  manner,  allotting  a  large 
sum  of  money  to  pay  the  expenses.  The  officials  took 
the  money  and  put  it  in  their  pockets,  and  nothing 
was  done  to  the  streets.  The  Sultan  honestly  believes 
that  Constantinople  is  one  of  the  best-kept  cities  in 
Europe,  and  often  boasts  of  that  fact  to  foreign 
visitors.  As  he  dare  not  go  through  the  streets  to  see 
for  himself,  and  is  surrounded  by  men  whose  interests 
and  safety  require  them  to  maintain  the  deception,  he 
will  probably  never  discover  how  he  has  been  deceived. 
The  two  great  bridges  across  the  Golden  Horn,  which 
connect  Stamboul,  the  Turkish  town,  with  Galata,  the 
foreign  settlement,  produce  not  less  than  ;?2,ooo  a  day 
in  tolls.  E'/ery  foot  passenger  is  charged  a  penny, 
about  the  same  fee  as  that  collected  by  the  ferry  com- 
panies of  New  York,  and  carriages  pay  ten  cents.  But 
of  the  receipts  not  more  than  $ioo  a  day  goes  into  the 
public  treasury.  The  rest  is  stolen  by  people  who 
have  charge  of  the  collections.  Everybody  gets  his 
"squeeze,"    from    the  general    manager   down   to    the 


THE   TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  41 

Turks  with  white  aprons  who  stand  at  the  entrances 
and  take  the  money.  Curious  people  have  taken  the 
trouble  to  stand  at  the  approaches  to  the  bridge  and 
count  the  number  of  passengers  within  a  certain  time 
as  a  basis  for  an  estimate  of  the  revenues,  and  assert 
that  ^2,000  a  day  is  a  low  calculation.  It  is  also 
asserted  that  not  more  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  cus- 
toms collections  goes  into  the  treasury.  The  balance  is 
stolen  by  the  officials,  who  receive  no  salaries  and  are 
expected  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Sometimes  they 
get  their  money  out  of  the  importers  and  exporters 
by  blackmail,  because  each  collector  of  customs  is 
required  to  turn  a  certain  amount  into  the  treasury 
every  month,  but  some  of  them  simply  take  a  propor- 
tion of  the  ordinary  receipts  and  are  satisfied  with 
that. 

Several  propositions  have  been  made  to  the  Sultan 
to  farm  out  the  collection  of  duties  to  a  bank,  which  is 
willing  to  guarantee  him  a  stated  sum  in  cash  annually 
and  take  its  chances  of  collecting  an  equal  amount  or 
a  good  deal  more  upon  the  present  tariff  rates,  but 
the  Sultan  dare  not  make  such  an  arrangement 
because  the  customs  service  takes  care  of  so  many 
poor  relations  and  hangers  on  of  his  favorites.  If  he 
should  put  this  patronage  out  of  his  hands  they  would 
have  to  be  supported  in  some  other  manner.  There- 
fore he  declines  to  have  his  revenues  honestly  col- 
lected. 

Some  people  think  that  the  Sultan  was  not  respon- 
sible for  the  Armenian  massacre  in  1896.  Others  are 
confident  that  he  ordered  it,  just  as  Charles  of  France 
ordered  the  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  They 
believe  that  he  was  induced  to  do  so  by  the  representa- 
tions of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  and  his  ministers  that  the 


42      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Armenians  were  on  the  point  of  revolution,  and  there 
was  circumstantial  evidence  to  sustain  their  claims. 
There  had  been  repeated  massacres  by  the  Kurds  and 
other  Turkish  barbarians  in  Armenia,  and  thousands  of 
Christians  there  lost  their  lives  and  property.  When 
a  committee  of  Armenian  citizens  went  to  the  Sublime 
Porte  to  present  a  petition  demanding  the  protection 
guaranteed  their  countrymen  by  the  Treaty  of  Berlin 
in  1878,  they  were  prevented  from  entering,  and 
attempted  to  fight  their  way  in,  which  caused  a  riot 
and  gave  their  enemies  an  argument  to  secure  official 
sanction  for  their  persecution.  But  what  is  known  as 
the  "Ottoman  Bank  Affair"  was  really  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  massacre.  It  is  practically  the  only  bank 
in  Constantinople,  and  is  managed  by  an  Englishman. 
One  morning  in  1896,  while  business  was  going  on  as 
usual,  a  party  of  forty  or  fifty  armed  men  entered  the 
building  and  closed  the  doors.  The  manager,  Mr. 
Vincent,  succeeded  in  escaping.  The  bank  was 
promptly  surrounded  by  troops,  which  made  it  impos- 
sible for  the  bandits  to  get  away  with  any  booty  or 
with  their  lives,  but  they  threatened  to  blow  up  the 
vaults  and  to  set  fire  to  the  building  unless  they  were 
granted  immunity.  Mr.  Vincent  had  sufficient  influ- 
ence with  the  authorities  to  secure  such  terms,  and 
during  the  night  after  the  raid  the  bandits  were  taken 
from  the  bank  to  the  nearest  dock,  placed  on  board 
Mr.  Vincent's  private  yacht  and  carried  to  Marseilles, 
where  they  were  put  ashore  and  disappeared.  They 
claimed  to  be  Armenians,  but  were  all  strangers. 
Some  people  think  it  was  a  "fake"  raid  arranged  by 
the  Turkish  police  to  arouse  public  prejudice  against 
the  Armenians.  Others  think  that  a  foolhardy  group 
of  Armenian   revolutionists   attempted  to  secure  funds 


THE   TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  43 

to  carry  on  a  revolution.  But  whatever  the  intent  or 
expectation,  on  the  following  day  the  Sultan  was 
persuaded  that  unless  the  Armenian  community  was 
effectually  terrorized  it  would  overthrow  his  govern- 
ment. He  gave  the  word,  the  Mohammedan  priests 
and  softas  (theological  students)  led  the  mobs,  and 
the  Turkish  fanatics  continued  to  kill  Christians  until 
they  were  exhausted. 

There  is  a  multitude  of  priests,  divided  into  classes 
and  ranks.  The  lowest  is  the  muezzin,  who  is  a  sort  of 
sacristan  or  sexton  at  the  mosque.  He  calls  the  faith- 
ful to  prayer,  but  takes  no  part  in  the  devotional  exer- 
cises. Softas  are  theological  students — young  preachers 
who  make  up  a  fanatical  and  turbulent  class  and  are 
the  cause  of  most  of  the  disturbances  in  Constanti- 
nople, as  the  students  of  universities  often  are  in  other 
European  countries.  Next  to  them  in  rank  are  the 
cadis,  who  exercise  a  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual 
jurisdiction,  acting  as  notaries,  justices  of  the  peace, 
judges  of  the  courts  and  look  after  the  financial  affairs 
of  the  different  parishes  and  religious  orders.  There 
are  several  religious  brotherhoods  and  orders  like  the 
dervishes.  The  moulahs  or  regular  priests,  who  con- 
duct the  services  at  the  mosques,  may  be  compared 
with  the  ordinary  clergy  in  our  country.  One  grade 
above  the  moidah  is  the  kliodja,  or  professor  of  theology, 
who  is  found  daily  at  the  mosques  with  a  copy  of  the 
Koran  and  other  orthodox  authorities  before  him, 
expounding  the  faith  of  the  Mohammedans  to  groups 
of  students  and  others  who  gather  around  him,  sitting 
cross-legged  upon  the  floor. 

You  can  find  these  groups  in  every  mosque  at  all 
hours  of  the  day,  and  they  remind  you  of  the  story  of 
Jesus  teaching  in  the  temple.     The  theologians  receive 


44      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

fees  from  their  pupils.  Another  class  of  khodja 
expound  the  Koran  to  ordinary  people  very  much  in 
the  manner  of  our  Sunday-school  classes.  After  the 
regular  prayers  are  over  in  the  mosques  they  take  con- 
venient places,  and  those  who  desire  to  learn  from 
them  squat  around  in  semicircles  within  the  sound  of 
their  voices.  The  lesson  or  lecture  lasts  about  half  an 
hour.  Many  of  the  pupils  are  business  men  who  are 
interested  to  hear  and  know.  Others  are  poor 
devotees  who  scarcely  understand  the  language  of  the 
teacher,  but  listen  attentively  to  everything  he  says. 
There  is  no  regularity  about  the  lectures  and  no  stated 
fees  are  charged.  Those  who  attend  can  pay  whatever 
they  like.  Some  of  the  ablest  theologians  attract 
large  classes  and  make  a  good  living.  Their  incomes 
are  much  better  than  the  salaries  paid  to  the  ordinary 
moiilahs,  or  parish  priests.  Superior  to  them  are  the 
nmfti,  or  bishops,  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  or  patriarch, 
the  spiritual  head  of  the  Mohammedan  Church,  who 
often  is  known  as  the  Great  Mufti. 

Nearly  all  of  the  Moslems  in  Constantinople  are 
employed  either  by  the  church  or  the  state,  or  are 
ordinary  common  working  men.  They  are  ignorant 
and  fanatical,  dangerous  when  excited  by  the  priests 
or  the  softas,  who  make  the  mischief,  and  are  as 
devout  as  any  people  in  the  world.  It  is  the  universal 
testimony  that  Mussulmans  are  more  loyal  to  their 
religion  and  more  faithful  to  its  teachings  than  the 
members  of  any  other  church.  The  pashas  and  the 
higher  ofificials  of  the  government  wear  the  European 
dress  with  the  red  fez.  The  poorer  Turks  retain  the 
native  dress. 

While  there  arc  doubtless  many  good  traits  about 
the   Mohammedans,    and,    as  an   old    lady  said   about 


THE    TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  45 

Christianity,  their  religion  would  be  a  good  thing  if  it 
were  lived  up  to,  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the  facts. 
For  example,  the  Koran  and  the  teachings  of  the 
prophet  enjoin  personal  cleanliness  as  necessary  to 
salvation.  The  Moslems  always  bathe  before  they 
pray.  They  would  not  dare  enter  the  house  of  prayer 
with  unclean  hands  or  feet  or  faces.  Hence  when  the 
muezzin's  call  is  heard  from  a  minaret  five  times  a 
day,  faithful  Moslems  go  first  to  the  fountains  that  are 
found  outside  of  every  mosque  and  bathe  themselves. 
There  are  innumerable  bath-houses  also  in  which  genu- 
ine Turkish  baths  and  massage  are  given.  At  the 
same  time  their  houses  are  positively  filthy;  too  filthy, 
as  a  rule,  for  human  beings  to  occupy;  and  the  streets  of 
Constantinople  and  every  other  Turkish  town  are  inde- 
scribable in  their  nastiness.  The  clothing  they  wear 
is  as  dirty  as  their  bodies  are  clean,  and  their  food  is 
often  unfit  for  sanitary  reasons.  A  true  believer  will 
not  cut  down  a  tree  without  planting  another  in  its 
place.  Hence  the  Turkish  forests  are  in  splendid 
condition.  The  kindness  of  the  Mohammedan  to  ani- 
mals is  proverbial.  He  will  not  kill  a  rat  and  will 
share  his  crust  with  a  dog;  he  will  not  beat  a  horse, 
and,  as  you  have  often  read,  among  the  Bedouins 
man  and  horse  always  share  the  same  tent.  But  it  is 
no  offense  to  kill  a  Christian.  Human  life  is  nowhere 
else  held  at  so  low  a  value. 

The  Koran  forbids  the  followers  of  the  prophet  to 
charge  interest  upon  loans  of  money,  hence  Moham- 
medans cannot  engage  in  the  banking  business,  and 
you  often  hear  that  true  believers  never  swindle  each 
other;  that  no  Mohammedan  ever  lies,  except  where 
the  interests  of  Christians  are  involved;  that  he  will 
tell  the  truth  to  his  own  people. 


46      The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

It  is  evident  that  the  Turks  consider  it  no  crime  to 
cheat  a  Christian  or  to  tell  him  a  falsehood,  and  it  is  a 
beautiful  delusion  that  Mohammedans  never  deceive 
or  swindle  one  another..  I  have  tried  to  reconcile  this 
generally  accepted  fable  with  the  notorious  robbery  of 
the  government.  Almost  every  official  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire  is  a  Mohammedan.  Very  few  Christians 
are  employed  in  any  capacity,  and  in  no  other  land  on 
earth  is  official  corruption,  bribery  and  embezzlement 
so  general  and  common.  It  is  not  only  known,  but 
tolerated.  Few  officials  receive  salaries,  and  they  are 
expected  to  make  a  living  by  robbing  their  govern- 
ment and  by  blackmailing  people  who  have  business 
with  it.  While  there  is  nothing  in  precise  terms  in 
the  Koran  to  prohibit  malfeasance  in  office,  one  would 
suppose  that  the  general  laws  of  morality  and  honesty, 
if  not  patriotism,  would  be  recognized  and  applied. 
When  I  asked  an  intelligent  and  liberal  Mohammedan 
to  explain  this  phenomenon  he  did  so  without  the 
slightest  hesitation.  He  declared  in  the  first  place 
that  the  government  knew  that  its  officials  were  rob- 
bing the  revenues  and  expected  them  to  do  so. 
Therefore,  it  was  no  crime  against  the  laws  and  no 
violation  of  the  teachings  of  the  prophet.  In  the 
second  place,  he  said,  there  were  bad  men  among  the 
followers  of  the  prophet  as  well  as  among  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ,  and  that,  "while  no  man  who  obeyed  the 
teachings  of  the  Koran  and  the  injunctions  of  Moham- 
med would  cheat  or  steal,  many  sometimes  did  so 
under  great  temptation." 

We  are  also  told  that  Mohammedans  are  strict  pro- 
hibitionists; that  they  drink  no  wine  or  liquor  of  any 
kind,  and  this  is  more  generally  true  than  any  of  the 
other  statements  to  which  I  have  referred. 


THE   TURKISH   GOVERNMENT  47 

There  are  plenty  of  saloons  in  Constantinople,  but 
they  are  all  found  in  the  foreign  quarter.  In  Stam- 
boul,  which  is  almost  exclusively  Mohammedan,  there 
are  none,  and  the  natives  dissipate  at  coffee-houses, 
which  are  as  numerous  in  the  Mohammedan  districts 
as  saloons  in  Chicago.  The  highest  joy  that  a  Turk 
can  realize  is  to  sit  outside  a  cafe,  sip  a  cup  of  coffee, 
smoke  a  ?iargilch—or\Q  of  those  long-stemmed  water 
pipes— and  contemplate  the  infinite.  At  least,  I  sup- 
pose that  is  what  the  solemn-looking  old  chaps  who  sit 
around  on  the  sidewalk  are  contemplating.  Their 
faces  wear  an  expression  of  unutterable  wisdom, 
solemnity  and  benevolence  that  cannot  be  surpassed, 
and  their  composure  is  perfect.  A  Turk  is  always  com- 
posed at  a  coffee-house,  and  you  would  think  that  his 
soul  was  submerged  in  benevolence.  But  when  he  comes 
to  action  he  is  an  entirely  different  sort  of  a  person. 

As  a  rule  Turks  of  the  upper  classes  are  very 
good-looking.  Their  features  are  fine,  their  heads  are 
intellectual  and  their  expressions  are  amiable.  In 
addition  to  the  coffee-houses  water  fountains  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor  are  found  on  almost  every  block. 
When  a  rich  man  wants  to  erect  a  monument  by  which 
he  may  be  remembered,  he  builds  a  fountain  in  a  pub- 
lic place  and  leaves  money  for  its  maintenance.  When 
Kaiser  William  of  Germany  was  in  Constantinople  a 
few  years  ago  he  ordered  the  erection  of  a  fountain, 
which  is  beautiful  in  design  and  of  expensive  con- 
struction. It  must  have  cost  him  a  very  large  sum  of 
money,  and  was  an  appropriate,  useful  and  noble  gift. 
Thousands  of  men  make  a  business  of  peddling  water, 
lemonade  and  sherbet  through  the  streets  of  the 
Turkish  part  of  the  city,  and  another  praiseworthy  cus- 
tom among  benevolent  men  is  to  leave  legacies  to  pay 


48      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

for  the  free  distribution  of  drinking  water  among  the 
working  people.  You  see  many  such  peddlers  on  the 
docks,  in  the  factories  and  at  other  places  were  labor- 
ers are  employed.  They  go  about  with  pigskins  full 
of  fresh  water  upon  their  backs  and  a  dozen  cups 
hanging  from  hooks  in  their  belts.  Anybody  can  stop 
them  on  the  street  and  ask  for  a  drink,  which  they 
always  furnish  with  great  courtesy,  as  they  are  required 
to  do  by  their  employers.  If  you  give  them  a  tip  they 
will  accept  it,  but  it  is  not  necessary  and  it  is  not 
expected.     The  Turks  are  a  very  temperate  people. 

A  Turkish  gentleman  declared  that  the  young  men 
of  Constantinople  were  being  led  into  dissipation 
because  they  thought  it  was  "progress";  that  fast 
foreigners  had  introduced  bad  habits  into  the  country, 
including  whisky  and  brandy  drinking,  and  many 
young  Turks  had  followed  their  example.  The 
saloons  and  beer  gardens,  he  said,  were  intended  for, 
and  were  generally  patronized  by,  the  foreign  popula- 
tion— the  French,  Germans,  Italians,  Austrians,  Hun- 
garians and  others — and  several  liquor  stores  had  been 
established  to  supply  them. 

"Many  young  Moslems  have  become  intemperate," 
he  exclaimed,  "and  it  can  only  be  attributed  to  the 
bad  example  of  Christians."  The  pashas  and  other 
public  men  think  it  is  necessary  to  serve  wine  at  their 
houses  because  it  is  served  to  them  when  they  visit 
the  homes  of  foreigners,  and  thus  the  habit  is  being 
introduced.  The  Sultan  drinks  nothing  but  water  and 
coffee,  although  at  formal  dinners  he  offers  wine  to 
his  guests. 

"I  met  a  friend  the  other  day,"  continued  my  inform- 
ant, "who  offered  me  a  glass  of  wine.  I  declined, 
saying  that  my  religion  forbade  the  use  of  wine.     'So 


A  (,HAZi-A  MUllAM.MEUAN  FANATIC 


THE   TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  49 

does  mine,'  replied  the  pasha,  'but  God  is  merciful  and 
I  shall  be  forgiven.'  " 

One  great  trouble  in  Turkey  is  the  disloyalty  of  the 
upper  classes.  The  lower  classes  are  fanatical  in  their 
devotion  to  the  Sultan  and  the  Mohammedan  Church. 
But  it  is  the  office  and  not  the  man  they  adore.  They 
care  very  little  who  occupies  the  throne  and  will  give 
their  lives  cheerfully  to  support  and  defend  him.  The 
Turkish  soldiers  are  great  fighters,  if  well  led,  and  are 
absolutely  destitute  of  fear  because  they  are  taught 
from  infancy  that  he  who  dies  in  defense  of  the  church 
or  the  Sultan  goes  straight  to  paradise,  which  is 
sufficient  incentive  for  them.  At  the  same  time  the 
words  "loyalty"  and  "patriotism"  do  not  appear  in 
the  Turkish  language,  and  those  emotions  are  almost 
entirely  unknown  to  the  pashas  and  other  persons  of 
high  rank  who  are  always  striving  to  excel  each  other 
and  secure  the  favor  of  the  sovereign,  and  the  power, 
influence  and  wealth  that  attend  it.  The  foundation 
of  all  the  trouble  is  the  absolute  authority  intrusted  to 
the  Sultan,  who  is  able  to  appoint  to  the  highest  offices 
and  elevate  to  the  highest  rank  the  most  unworthy  and 
incompetent  favorite  at  his  court.  The  Sultan  can 
make  and  unmake  pashas  at  pleasure,  and  this  pre- 
carious tenure  of  rank  and  dignity  induces  them  to  be 
so  corrupt,  so  treacherous  and  envious.  Another  great 
source  of  weakness  is  the  entire  absence  of  anything 
like  justice.  If  a  man  is  accused  before  the  Sultan  by 
one  of  his  spies  or  by  any  informer,  high  or  low,  he 
has  no  trial  and  often  there  is  no  investigation.  In 
very  rare  cases  the  accused  has  an  opportunity  to  make 
a  personal  defense;  but  in  the  Sultan's  eyes  every  man 
is  guilty  until  he  is  proved  innocent,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity to  submit  the  proof  seldom  comes. 


50      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

A  Constantinople  photographer  to  whom  I  applied 
for  portraits  of  the  Sultan  and  other  public  men 
explained  that  he  was  not  able  to  furnish  them  because 
the  Moslem  religion  forbade  its  adherents  to  make  the 
likeness  of  anything  in  the  heaven  above  or  in  the 
earth  beneath,  and  that  the  injunction  was  strictly 
observed  by  old-fashioned  and  conservative  Moham- 
medans. Being  the  head  of  the  church,  the  Sultan 
thinks  he  ought  to  observe  it  as  an  example  to  others. 
Nevertheless  the  portraits  of  his  sons  have  been 
painted,  and  you  can  buy  their  photographs  wherever 
such  things  are  sold  about  town.  And  there  are  oil 
portraits  of  previous  Sultans  in  all  the  public  build- 
ings. On  the  table  in  the  audience  chamber  at  the 
Seraglio,  is  a  large  quarto  volume  containing  a  collec- 
tion of  the  portraits  of  thirty-seven  Sultans  of  the 
Osman  dynasty.  In  the  treasury  are  a  lot  of  miniatures 
and  several  busts  in  bronze  and  marble.  Statues  of 
several  Turkish  heroes,  including  Sultans,  have  been 
erected,  and  hence  we  must  find  some  other  reason  why 
Abdul  Hamid  will  not  be  photographed.  Perhaps  it 
is  merely  an  idiosyncrasy,  for  he  has  many. 

At  the  same  time  public  men  in  Turkey  do  not  have 
their  portraits  painted,  nor  do  they  have  their  photo- 
graphs taken  as  frequently  as  those  of  Christian  coun- 
tries, and  it  is  difficult  to  buy  their  pictures.  Certain 
photographs  of  public  buildings,  the  interiors  of 
mosques,  and  women  in  the  Turkish  costume,  are  sold 
only  to  foreigners.  No  photographer  would  dare  sell 
the  picture  of  a  woman  to  a  Moslem,  because  her  hus- 
band or  father  would  take  it  as  a  mortal  insult,  although 
he  would  have  no  objection  to  its  sale  to  foreigners, 
particularly  those  who  take  it  out  of  the  country.  He 
would  consider  that  a  compliment.     These  notions  are 


THE    TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  51 

relaxing  generally  throughout  the  country,  like  many 
other  of  the  Moslem  habits  and  customs. 

When  I  was  at  Constantinople  the  city  was  filled 
with  pilgrims  on  their  way  to  Mecca.  They  came  from 
all  parts  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  and  from  the  Moham- 
medan settlements  in  Russia.  One  party  of  4,000 
arrived  from  Central  Asia  via  Odessa  upon  special 
steamers,  which  carried  them  to  Jiddah  on  the  Red  Sea, 
the  nearest  port  to  Mecca.  Hundreds  of  Persians, 
Kurds,  Mongols,  men  from  Turkestan,  Afghanistan, 
Bokhara,  Cashmere  and  other  far-off  countries  had  rid- 
den thousands  of  miles  over  the  desert  on  this  religious 
mission,  and  had  come  to  Constantinople  for  the  pur- 
pose of  paying  homage  to  the  Sultan,  who  is  the  head 
of  their  church.  The  bazaars  and  mosques  and  the 
streets  and  public  places  were  crowded  with  them. 

Very  few  were  able  to  see  the  Sultan,  Their  only 
opportunity  was  on  Friday,  when  he  rides  through  his 
park  from  the  palace  to  the  mosque  to  say  his  prayers. 
They  knelt  when  he  passed,  and  afterward  kissed  the 
ground  over  which  his  carriage  had  driven.  Many  of 
them  were  men  of  wealth  and  property,  but  did  not 
look  it.  They  were  dressed  in  the  fantastic  costumes 
of  their  races  and  added  to  the  variety  of  apparel  for 
which  Constantinople  is  noted. 

Every  Moslem  who  can  afford  to  do  so  makes  a  pil- 
grimage to  Mecca  at  least  once  in  his  life,  for  that  not 
only  insures  the  salvation  of  his  soul  but  advances 
him  in  social  and  religious  rank  also,  and  he  then 
becomes  a  Hadji,  a  title  for  v/hich  we  have  no  equiv- 
alent. It  gives  him  a  higher  place  in  the  mosque  and 
secures  for  him  certain  privileges  and  advantages 
which  people  who  have  not  been  to  Mecca  do  not 
enjoy.     Hence  it  is  the  ambition  of  every  Mussulman 


52      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

to  make  the  pilgrimage,  and  millions  go  every  year. 
The  pilgrimages  are  regulated  much  better  now  than 
formerly.  Sanitary  rules  are  enforced,  which  tend  to 
prevent  the  plagues  that  have  invariably  followed  the 
annual  hcgira.  Formerly  thousands  upon  thousands 
died  from  fatigue,  starvation  and  disease,  and  con- 
tagion was  carried  to  different  parts  of  the  world  by 
returning  caravans.  But  this  no  longer  occurs.  The 
pilgrimages  are  so  regulated  that  nowadays  they  can 
be  accomplished  without  much  danger  or  fatigue  and 
at  comparatively  small  expense. 

The  most  conspicuous  man  among  the  pilgrims  was 
Hadji  Sheik  Islam,  the  head  of  the  church  in  Persia, 
who  was  accompanied  by  his  son  and  three  other  prom- 
inent Persian  ecclesiastics.  Upon  their  arrival  they 
were  met  with  great  ceremony  by  the  Persian  ambas- 
sador and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam  of  Constantinople.  They 
were  guests  at  the  Persian  embassy,  and  enjoyed  the 
hospitality  of  the  Sultan,  who  decorated  them  with 
badges  and  other  honors  and  conferred  upon  them  his 
blessing  as  the  head  of  the  church.  Their  dress  is 
quite  picturesque.  They  wear  long  tunics,  or  gowns, 
of  white  silk  with  plaited  bosoms  and  flowing  sleeves, 
and  the  finest  of  cashmere  shawls  as  sashes  around 
their  waists.  Over  their  gowns  were  large  brown 
camel's-hair  robes  and  upon  their  heads  enormous 
white  turbans.  The  Sheik's  party  were  men  of  noble 
appearance  and  dignified  demeanor  and  received  the 
homage  of  the  people  as  if  they  were  accustomed  to  it. 

When  a  Turkish  steamer,  carrying  1,400  pilgrims, 
was  about  to  start  for  Mecca  the  Sultan  sent  orders 
that  no  passenger  should  be  charged  more  than  ^8 
fare,  and  that  those  who  could  not  afford  to  pay  should 
be  carried  free.     When  the  officers  of  the  steamship 


THE   TURKISH    GOVERNMENT  53 

company  remonstrated  he  blandly  told  them  to  send 
the  bill  for  the  difference  to  him — an  act  of  generosity 
which  amused  everybody  who  has  a  sense  of  humor, 
for  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  was  never  known  to  pay  for 
anything.  The  steamship  company  dared  not  defy  his 
orders,  but  after  reflection  was  ingenious  enough  to 
partially  recoup  itself.  When  the  steamer  got  as  far 
as  Beirut,  it  dropped  anchor,  and  the  officers  informed 
the  managers  of  the  pilgrimage  that  they  could  not  go 
any  farther  because  they  had  run  out  of  coal,  and  they 
could  not  buy  coal  because  they  had  no  money,  the 
small  amount  paid  by  the  pilgrims  for  fare  having 
already  been  exhausted.  The  pilgrims  appealed  by 
telegraph  to  the  Sultan,  who  ordered  the  governor  of 
Beirut  to  furnish  them  coal,  and  he  was  compelled  to  levy 
blackmail  upon   his  constituents  to  reimburse  himself. 

The  Moslem  day  is  reckoned  from  sunset  to  sunset, 
and  is  divided  into  two  divisions  of  twelve  hours  each. 
Sunset  is  always  twelve  o'clock,  and  as  the  length  of 
the  day  varies  throughout  the  year,  Turkish  watches 
have  to  be  altered  at  least  every  five  days  by  the  official 
clock,  which  is  set  in  the  tower  of  a  mosque  in  Stamboul. 

The  crescent,  which  is  the  symbol  of  the  Turkish 
Empire,  was  adopted  by  the  Sultan  Osman,  the  founder 
of  the  present  Ottoman  Empire,  in  1299.  It  is  said 
that  in  the  year  340  B.C.,  when  Constantinople  was 
besieged  by  Philip  of  Macedon,  and  was  only  saved  by 
the  timely  arrival  of  reenforcements  which  Demos- 
thenes sent  to  its  assistance,  a  bright  light  in  the  form 
of  a  crescent  was  seen  in  the  sky  and  was  regarded  by 
the  inhabitants  as  a  sign  that  rescue  was  approaching. 
Hence,  like  the  star  in  the  east  that  was  seen  by  the  wise 
men,  it  was  accepted  as  a  divine  revelation,  and  since 
then  the  crescent  has  been  a  sacred  emblem  to  the  Turks. 


Ill 

THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY 

The  present  Sultan  of  Turkey  is  the  most  interesting 
personality  among  the  sovereigns  of  the  world,  both 
for  what  he  is  and  for  what  he  represents,  exercising 
as  he  does  the  functions  of  an  emperor  over  a  semi- 
barbarous  and  turbulent  people,  and  spiritual  juris- 
diction over  the  most  fanatical  and  numerous  of 
religious  sects.  He  is  the  ecclesiastical  successor  of 
Mohammed,  head  of  the  Moslem  Church  with  200,- 
000,000  believers,  and  of  the  house  of  Ishmael,  the  son 
of  Abraham,  and  in  his  person  is  supposed  to  receive 
and  enjoy  the  blessings  which  God  promised  to 
Hagar,  That  is  one  of  the  most  dramatic  incidents 
in  Biblical  history  when,  in  obedience  to  the  jealousy 
of  Sarah,  his  wife,  "Abraham  rose  up  early  in  the 
morning  and  took  bread  and  a  bottle  of  water  and  gave 
it  to  Hagar,  putting  it  on  her  shoulders,  and  the  child, 
and  sent  her  away,  and  she  departed  and  wandered  in 
the  wilderness  of  Beersheba."  And  after  the  water 
was  spent  in  the  bottle  and  she  had  cast  the  child 
under  one  of  the  shrubs,  and  lifted  up  her  voice  and 
wept,  "The  angel  of  God  called  to  Hagar  out  of 
heaven,  and  said  unto  her:  'Arise,  lift  up  the  lad  and 
hold  him  in  thine  hands,  for  I  will  make  him  a  great 
nation.'  " 

The  Moslem  world  believes  that  Abraham  was  the 
founder  of  Mecca;  that  Ishmael  was  their  ancestor  and 
that  they  have  inherited  the  religion  of  Abraham  with 
its  promises  and  blessings,  and  the  characteristic  traits 

54 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  55 

ascribed  to  Ishmael.  Their  hand  has  been  against 
every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  has  been  against 
them,  and  still  they  defy  all  other  nations,  whether 
pagan  or  Christian.  Padishah  (father  of  all  the  sover- 
eigns of  the  earth)  is  the  official  title  of  the  Sultan, 
and  is  used  exclusively  by  the  Turks  in  official  com- 
munications. He  is  also  styled  Imam-ul-Muselmin 
(pontiff  of  Mussulmans),  Alem  Penah  (refuge  of  the 
world),  Zil-ullah  (shadow  of  God),  Hunkiar  (the 
slayer  of  infidels),  and  has  several  other  honorary 
titles.  He  controls  the  Mohammedan  subjects  of  all 
nations,  and  if  he  should  go  to  a  little  mosque  at  the 
Seraglio,  unfurl  the  green  banner  which  was  car- 
ried by  Mohammed,  and  declare  a  holy  war,  the  sons 
of  Ishmael  in  every  part  of  the  earth — in  India,  Africa, 
China,  the  East  Indies,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea — 
would  be  required  by  their  religion  to  sustain  him  and 
obey  his  orders,  regardless  of  their  allegiance  to  their 
own  civil  authorities. 

Abdul  Hamid  II.,  the  present  Sultan,  who  was  sixty 
years  old  in  September,  1902,  is  said  to  be  a  great 
coward  who  dare  not  leave  his  country  palace  or 
show  himself  in  his  own  capital.  It  is  true  that  the 
most  extraordinary  precautions  are  taken  for  his  pro- 
tection. He  dare  not  leave  the  safe  solitude  of  Yildiz 
Park,  which  is  situated  about  two  miles  outside  the 
gates  of  Constantinople  and  surrounded  by  a  double 
wall.  The  road  from  the  palace  to  the  Bosphorus 
passes  between  those  walls  and  is  protected  every  inch 
of  the  way  from  the  gates  of  the  park  to  the  wharf  on 
the  Bosphorus,  where,  once  a  year  only,  he  takes  a 
state  barge  and  is  rowed  over  to  the  Seraglio  to  per- 
form the  obligation  imposed  upon  him  by  his  religion: 
viz.,  to  worship  the  holy  mantle  of  the  prophet  on  the 


56      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

anniversary  of  the  death  of  Mohammed.  That  act  is 
required  of  him.  If  he  did  not  perform  it  the  whole 
church  would  rise  against  him.  Therefore,  for  that  day, 
he  is  compelled  to  suppress  his  fears  and  appear  before 
the  public;  but  it  would  be  impossible  for  an  outsider 
to  get  anywhere  near  him  unless  he  were  highly  recom- 
mended and  identified.  Some  people  say  that  his 
cowardice  is  cultivated  by  his  ministers  and  other  men 
who  surround  him,  because  they  find  it  to  their  personal 
advantage  to  prevent  him  from  going  abroad.  So 
they  keep  him  locked  in  the  Yildiz  Kiosk,  where  they 
can  control  his  surroundings  and  prevent  him  from 
receiving  any  information  that  will  be  to  their  dis- 
credit. At  the  same  time  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Sultan  keeps  constantly  in  mind  the  fact  that  many  of 
the  twenty-seven  Padishahs  who  have  reigned  at  Con- 
stantinople are  believed  to  have  died  by  violence. 
Several  endeavored  to  save  their  lives  by  abdication, 
but  the  public  never  saw  them  again. 

The  conspiracies  are  all  among  his  own  people  and 
his  immediate  attendants— the  "outs"  are  always 
scheming  to  get  in  and  the  "ins"  are  always  conspir- 
ing to  maintain  their  position.  There  are  no  political 
parties  in  Turkey;  there  are  no  political  issues.  It  is 
all  a  question  of  obtaining  the  Sultan's  favor,  and  the 
entire  Mohammedan  population  is  divided  into  two 
classes, — the  ruling  favorites  and  those  who  have  been 
discarded.  The  officials  and  army  officers  who  have 
been  disgraced  and  removed  from  their  positions 
naturally  desire  to  recover  them,  and  hate  the  Sultan 
because  he  likes  other  people  better  than  themselves. 
The  same  jealousies  prevail  among  the  men  of  the 
court  as  among  the  women  of  the  harem.  The  outside 
population  take  no  interest.     They  are  glad  to  be  let 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  57 

alone.  The  business  community  consists  of  Arme- 
nians, Greeks  and  Jews,  with  a  few  Turks.  It  would 
not  be  accurate  to  say  that  all  Turks  are  in  ofifice,  but  it 
is  actually  true  that  all  the  offices  are  filled  by 
Turks,  and  as  there  are  not  enough  ofifices  to  go  round, 
those  who  are  left  out  and  compelled  to  get  their  living 
without  the  aid  of  the  government,  are  forever  con- 
spiring against  the  Sultan  or  the  grand  vizier. 

Some  curious  conspiracies  are  discovered.  One  of 
the  most  recent,  which  for  a  time  created  a  profound 
sensation  at  the  Yildiz  Kiosk  and  caused  the  Sultan  the 
loss  of  considerable  sleep,  was  inspired  by  a  young 
Turk  of  high  family  named  Rechad  Bey.  His  father 
occupies  a  post  of  distinction  and  many  of  his  relatives 
are  employed  about  the  court  in  ofifices  of  responsi- 
bility. As  a  rare  favor  to  the  family  the  Sultan  per- 
mitted them  to  send  the  young  man  to  England,  where 
he  attended  school  for  several  years  and  imbibed  a 
great  many  ideas  which  do  not  conform  to  the  present 
state  of  affairs  in  Turkey.  In  1901,  upon  his  return, 
he  organized  a  football  club  among  the  young  men  of 
his  acquaintance  and  practiced  in  a  vacant  lot  behind 
a  high  wall  in  the  neighborhood  of  his  father's  palace. 
The  detectives,  who  are  always  around,  discovered  that 
something  unusual  was  going  on,  and  upon  making  a 
thorough  investigation  decided  that  Rechad  Bey  had 
organized  a  desperate  conspiracy  against  the  life  and 
government  of  the  Sultan.  He  was  arrested  in  the 
middle  of  the  night.  The  keys  to  the  garden  and  the 
clubhouse  were  seized,  and  the  most  astounding  dis- 
coveries followed.  In  the  clubhouse  were  found 
several  footballs,  a  lot  of  jerseys  and  the  colors  of  the 
club,  with  shin  guards,  nose  protectors,  elbow  pads  and 
other  paraphernalia  familiar  to  football  players.     To 


58      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

complete  the  damning  evidence  one  of  the  detectives 
cunningly  ascertained  that  the  name  of  the  large 
elastic  bomb  which  these  young  men  were  in  the  habit 
of  kicking  around  at  each  other  was  the  same  term  as 
that  used  by  the  Turks  for  a  cannon  ball.  Hence  it 
must  be  a  new  kind  of  bomb  or  shell,  and  the  police 
authorities  were  convinced  that  they  had  unearthed  an 
important  conspiracy  to  assassinate  the  Sultan  and 
blow  up  the  palace.  The  footballs  were  submerged  in 
water  to  prevent  their  explosion,  and  the  sweaters  and 
the  rest  of  the  outfit  were  carried  cautiously  to  the 
palace  in  order  that  the  Sultan  might  see  for  himself. 

Football  has  been  played  for  years  in  Constantinople 
by  the  young  men  of  the  English  embassy  and  the 
European  colony,  and  also  by  the  students  of  Robert 
College,  but  the  police  authorities  and  the  Sultan 
never  happened  to  hear  of  it.  Hence  they  knew  noth- 
ing of  the  game.  When  the  friends  of  Rechad  Bey 
learned  how  serious  a  predicament  he  was  in  they 
appealed  to  the  British  embassy  for  assistance.  One 
of  the  secretaries  was  sent  to  the  minister  of  police  to 
explain  the  nature  of  the  game  and  the  uses  of  the  ter- 
rible articles  that  had  been  discovered  at  the  club- 
house. He  unlaced  a  football  without  the  slightest 
trepidation  and  showed  the  officials  how  it  was  made. 
He  put  on  the  nose  guards,  the  shin  protectors  and  the 
other  armor  and  attempted  to  convince  them  of  its 
innocent  purpose.  But  they  were  still  very  suspi- 
cious. Perhaps  their  pride  had  something  to  do  with 
it,  for  they  insisted  upon  having  Rechad  Bey  severely 
punished,  and  he  was  bundled  off  in  great  haste  to 
Teheran,  Persia,  where  he  cannot  do  anything  to  aid 
in  the  disintegration  of  the  Ottoman  Empire. 

The  Sultan's  advisers   tell   him    that    his    life    is   in 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  59 

danger,  and  are  continually  discovering  conspiracies 
which   never    exist.      A   recent   fictitious    conspiracy 
against  him  was  attributed  to  one  of  his  best  and  most 
loyal  friends,  Fuad  Pasha,  'The  Hero  of  Elena,"  one 
of  the  foremost  generals  in  the  war  against   Russia  in 
1877  and  the  war  against  Greece  in  1897.     Fuad  Pasha 
is  an  enlightened  and   honest  man  and   has  had  the 
confidence  of  the  foreigners  to  a  degree  greater  than 
almost   any   other   of   the    Sultan's   favorites.       Until 
recently  he  was  so  much  of  a  favorite  that  the  Sultan 
allowed  him  to  hold  his  handkerchief  for  the  people  to 
kiss,  which  was  a  mark  of  the  greatest  honor  and  con- 
fidence.    He  kept  Fuad  Pasha  about  his  person  con- 
stantly, giving   him  the  command  of  his  bodyguard; 
but  Fuad  in  some  way  offended  the  detective  depart- 
ment, which  reported  to  the  Sultan  that   his  favorite 
was  involved  with  the  reformers  known  as  the  "Young 
Turkey"  party,  and  spies  were  set  to  watch  his  house. 
Fuad   noticed  strange  men   about  the   premises.     He 
probably  suspected  who  they  were  and  what  they  were 
there   for,    but  pretended  to    believe  that  they   were 
burglars,  and  purchased  a  supply  of  rifles  and  revolv- 
ers, which  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  his  servants  with 
instructions  to  fire  upon  the  intruders  if  they  became 
offensive.      This    fact    was    reported    to    the    Sultan 
prom.ptly,  and  the  vigilance  of  the  spies  was  increased. 
A  few  days  later  a  collision  occurred  between  them 
and  Fuad's  servants,  in  which  several  were  killed  and 
wounded.     Fuad  was  immediately  arrested,  taken  to 
the  palace,  and  after  an  interview  with  the  Sultan  was 
sent  aboard  the  latter's  private  yacht,  which  sailed  at 
once   for    Beirut   without    allowing    the    prisoner    to 
communicate  with  his  family  or  friends.     He  is  sup- 
posed to  have  been  sentenced  to  exile  at  Damascus 


6o      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

instead  of  being  executed,  which  is  a  mark  of  great  for- 
bearance upon  the  Sultan's  part. 

Fuad  found  plenty  of  company  at  Damascus.  Sev- 
eral other  of  the  Sultan's  former  fav^orites  are  there  in 
exile,  hopefully  awaiting  a  day  when  their  sovereign 
will  be  less  susceptible  to  the  influence  of  his  hired 
spies  and  detectives  and  more  trustful  of  his  loyal 
friends  and  supporters.  The  great  difficulty,  however, 
is  in  His  Majesty's  natural  distrust.  When  his  suspi- 
cions are  once  aroused  his  ideas  are  always  distorted 
and  his  confidence  can  scarcely  ever  be  restored.  He 
is  thus  driving  away  some  of  his  most  valuable  sup- 
porters. 

In  1901,  when  the  Sultan  went  to  Seraglio  Point  to 
worship  at  the  mosque  that  holds  the  sacred  mantle  of 
the  prophet,  another  funny  thing  occurred.  He  was 
landed  at  the  regular  dock,  where  a  carriage  was  wait- 
ing to  convey  him  to  the  old  palace,  but  he  had  not 
proceeded  far  when  he  noticed  that  telegraph  wires 
had  been  stretched  across  the  driveway  along  the  line 
of  the  railroad,  and  positively  declined  to  pass  under 
them.  Nobody  knows  what  was  in  his  mind,  or  what 
he  thought  would  happen,  but  the  entire  procession 
was  stopped  right  there,  and  remained  motionless 
until  aides-de-camp  had  galloped  away  to  summon 
somebody  from  the  railway  headquarters  who  could 
climb  the  poles  and  cut  down  the  wires.  Nor  have 
they  been  replaced.  The  Sultan  positively  forbade  it, 
but  the  railway  officials  are  supposed  to  have  dug  a 
trench  and  hidden  them  underground.  If  the  Sultan 
learns  that  fact  he  may  refuse  to  drive  over  them. 

He  is  very  superstitious  about  electricity,  but  is  as 
inconsistent  concerning  it  as  he  is  with  everything  else. 
He  will  not  permit  electric  lights  or  telephones  or  elec- 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  6i 

trie  street  cars  anywhere  in  Turkey,  although  the  gov- 
ernment has  a  telegraph  line  to  every  important  point 
in  the  empire,  and  the  Sultan  has  an  instrument  and 
an  operator  in  his  private  office  to  receive  messages  in 
his  own  private  cipher  from  detectives  and  other  offi- 
cials in  different  parts  of  the  country  in  whom  he  has 
special  confidence,  or  to  whom  he  may  have  intrusted 
important  business.  He  maintains  a  regular  system  of 
communication  with  officials  of  the  empire  entirely 
distinct  from  and  without  the  knowledge  of  their 
immediate  superiors.  The  general  of  the  army  and 
the  minister  of  war  do  not  know  what  communications 
are  passing  between  commanders  of  posts  and  districts 
and  their  sovereign,  and  the  minister  of  the  interior 
can  never  be  sure  what  private  reports  are  being  made 
by  his  subordinates.  Thus  the  mutual  distrust  that 
exists  between  the  Sultan  and  his  ministers  is  not  only 
recognized,  but  promoted.  There  are  three  electric- 
light  plants  in  Constantinople — at  one  of  the  hotels,  at 
the  palace  of  the  mother  of  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  on 
the  Bosphorus,  and  at  the  palace  of  Hassan  Pasha,  min- 
ister of  marine.  There  are  two  private  telephone  sys- 
tems, one  between  the  headquarters  of  the  Imperial 
Ottoman  Bank  and  its  branches  throughout  the  city, 
and  the  other  between  the  signal-station  where  the 
Bosphorus  connects  with  the  Black  Sea  and  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Maritime  Association  in  Constanti- 
nople. The  Sultan  will  not  allow  gas  or  petroleum  or 
other  explosives  to  be  used  about  the  palace,  although 
the  park  surrounding  the  palace  is  brilliantly  illumi- 
nated by  gas.  His  rooms  and  the  other  apartments 
are  lit  with  candles  and  equipped  with  beautiful  crystal 
chandeliers.  There  are  several  street-car  lines  oper- 
ated by  horses,   and  the  companies   have  repeatedly 


62      The  TURK  a^id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

applied  for  permission  to  use  electricity,  but  have 
always  been  refused.  In  the  street-cars,  ferry-boats 
and  other  public  conveyances  there  is  always  a  little 
apartment  curtained  off  for  the  use  of  ladies. 

Gorges  Dorys,  author  of  "The  Private  Life  of  the 
Sultan,"  recently  published  in  England,  France  and 
the  United  States,  has  been  sentenced  to  death.  His 
real  name  is  Adossides.  The  proceedings  are  only 
formal,  however,  because  Mr.  Dorys  left  the  country 
before  the  manuscript  of  the  book  was  finished  and  is 
now  living  in  Paris.  The  French  government  has  been 
asked  to  surrender  him,  but  has  refused  to  do  so.  Mr. 
Dorys,  however,  will  never  be  able  to  return  to  his 
home.  All  of  the  European  nations  were  requested  by 
the  Turkish  ambassadors  to  suppress  the  volume,  and 
the  Sultan  has  been  led  to  believe  that  his  wishes  have 
been  complied  with  all  over  the  world;  but  nothing  has 
been  actually  done,  except  in  Sweden,  where  an 
attempt  to  prevent  the  sale  of  the  book  by  legal  pro- 
ceedings not  only  failed  but  gave  it  a  tremendous 
advertisement. 

Mr.  Dorys  is  the  son  of  Adossides  Pasha,  one  of  the 
former  ministers  of  the  Sultan.  His  father  was  a  dis- 
tinguished and  influential  man,  at  one  time  governor 
of  Crete  and  afterwards  prince  of  Samos,  a  post  he 
occupied  until  his  death.  The  son  spent  his  child- 
hood and  youth  about  the  Yildiz  Kiosk,  where  he  had 
exceptional  opportunities  for  seeing  and  knowing  the 
extraordinary  events  of  the  Ottoman  court,  and  much 
of  the  material  used  in  his  book  is  said  to  have  been 
obtained  from  the  private  papers  of  his  late  father, 
which  fell  into  his  possession  after  the  latter's  death. 
Mr.  Dorys  was  correspondent  of  the  London  Times  at 
Constantinople   for  two  or  three  years,  and  as  such 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  63 

made  himself  familiar  with  political  conditions.  He 
was  therefore  admirably  equipped  for  the  task  he 
undertook,  but  was  unable  to  suppress  his  prejudice, 
and  does  not  give  the  Sultan  credit  for  his  few  virtues. 
The  work  is  both  approved  and  condemned  by  people 
in  Turkey.  Some  say  that  it  is  accurate  and  just; 
others  accuse  him  of  being  actuated  by  personal  spite. 
He  has  at  least  stirred  up  the  Sultan  and  his  court  to 
a  degree  of  indignation  that  has  not  been  shown  there 
for  many  years. 

The  missionaries  say  that  Abdul  Hamid  is  a  bad 
Sultan,  but  a  good  Moslem;  that  his  fanaticism  is 
equal  to  that  of  any  fakir  in  his  realm;  that  he  is 
responsible  for  the  persecution  of  the  Christians  and 
for  the  massacre  of  the  Armenians;  that  the  orders 
were  given  by  him  personally.  On  the  other  hand, 
Americans  and  Englishmen  who  are  in  the  habit  of  visit- 
ing the  palace  and  have  personal  acquaintance  with 
His  Majesty,  insist  that  he  has  many  good  traits  and 
that  he  would  not  be  a  bad  man  at  all  if  he  lived  under 
different  conditions. 

When  General  Horace  Porter,  our  ambassador  to 
France,  visited  Turkey,  the  Sultan  received  him  with 
unusual  cordiality  and  attention,  because  of  General 
Porter's  former  relations  to  General  Grant.  When  he 
heard  that  Mr.  Porter  had  been  Grant's  private  secre- 
tary, it  was  enough.  A  carriage  from  the  imperial 
stable,  an  aide-de-camp  from  the  Yildiz  Kiosk  and  a 
military  escort  were  placed  at  his  disposal  and  all 
doors  in  Constantinople  were  ordered  thrown  open  to 
him.  Few  travelers  have  ever  been  received  with  so 
much  distinction,  and  before  he  left  the  city  the  Sultan 
gave  a  dinner  in  his  honor  at  the  palace  and  decorated 
Mrs.  Porter  with  one  of  his  most  important  orders. 


64      The  TURK  'ajid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

It  is  remarkable  what  an  impression  General  Grant 
left  during  his  famous  tour  around  the  world.  He  is 
remembered  with  reverence  everywhere — in  China  and 
Japan  as  well  as  in  Turkey.  The  Sultan  and  the  King 
of  Siam,  as  well  as  Li  Hung  Chang,  have  always 
quoted  him  to  Americans  as  their  highest  authority. 
His  fame  and  his  influence  will  be  everlasting. 

Mrs.  Porter  was  entertained  in  the  Sultan's  harem, 
but  that  was  no  unusual  courtesy.  The  wives  of  the 
diplomatic  corps  are  often  received  by  the  sultanas, 
who  are  glad  to  see  them,  and  any  other  strangers  for 
that  matter,  because  their  lives  are  very  monotonous 
and  their  diversions  are  few.  No  person  may  ask  per- 
mission to  visit  the  imperial  or  any  private  harem.  It 
would  be  considered  an  insult.  If  the  Sultan  or  any 
Turkish  gentleman  desires  foreign  ladies  to  meet  his 
wives  he  will  offer  them  an  invitation,  and  will  either 
conduct  them  in  person  to  the  harem  or  send  them  in 
charge  of  the  kizlar-aghasi,  or  chief  eunuch,  a  very 
important  personage,  who  ranks  next  to  the  grand 
vizier  and  the  Sheik-ul-Islam. 

The  Sultans  have  long  ceased  to  contract  regular 
marriages,  and  the  harem  is  a  state  institution. 
Nobody  knows  the  exact  number  of  Abdul  Hamid's 
wives,  but  he  is  supposed  to  have  300  or  400,  who  are 
graded  and  live  according  to  their  rank  under  the 
direction  of  the  khasna-dar  kadin,  or  superintendent  of 
the  harem.  They  are  from  the  prominent  families  of 
the  empire,  as  frequently  the  sultanas  are  able  to  exer- 
cise a  powerful  influence  in  behalf  of  their  relatives 
and  friends.  When  a  rich  pasha  wants  to  secure  the 
favor  of  the  Sultan  he  offers  him  one  of  his  daughters 
with  a  suitable  dowry  as  a  wife.  If  she  is  accepted 
it  is  a  sign  of  friendliness  as  well  as  a  mark  of  dis- 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  65 

tinction.  When  the  governor  of  the  Circassian  prov- 
ince, which  is  said  to  have  the  most  beautiful 
women  in  Turkey,  wishes  to  please  his  imperial  mas- 
ter, he  will  send  him  a  handsome  young  girl  as  a  gift, 
or  when  any  of  his  subordinates  discover  a  young 
woman  of  remarkable  attractions  they  secure  her  for 
the  harem  just  as  they  would  secure  a  valuable  horse 
for  the  imperial  stables.  The  Sultan  does  not  always 
accept  such  gifts.  He  is  supposed  to  be  very  fastid- 
ious, particularly  now  that  he  has  passed  the  age 
of  sixty  years,  and  is  becoming  quite  as  suspicious 
regarding  the  inmates  of  the  harem  as  he  is  concern- 
ing the  members  of  his  court.  His  eldest  sister,  who 
is  a  woman  of  very  strong  character  and  has  more 
influence  with  him  than  any  other  person,  looks  after 
the  harem  very  closely,  and  has  sent  away  a  large 
number  of  girls  whom  she  considered  supernumeraries, 
if  such  a  term  can  be  used  in  that  connection.  It  is 
also  understood  throughout  the  empire  that  His  Majesty 
does  not  care  for  any  more  wives.  He  has  transferred 
to  his  favorite  pashas  several  remarkable  beauties  who 
have  been  added  to  the  harem  within  the  last  few 
years.  In  the  summer  of  1902  he  sent  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  to  the  governor  of  Damascus  to  com- 
fort the  latter  in  affliction,  as  he  had  recently  become 
a  widower. 

The  ladies  of  the  harem  are  called  sultanas.  They 
enter  as  slaves,  and  the  younger  become  the  servants 
of  the  older  and  attend  upon  them  until  they  are  pro- 
moted. If  the  Sultan  takes  a  fancy  to  any  one  of  his 
wives  her  fortune  is  made,  for  she  is  rapidly  pro- 
moted, her  allowance  for  dresses  and  jewels  is  increased 
and,  if  she  bears  a  child,  she  can  live  apart  from  the 
rest,  as  becomes  a  princess.     All  children  born  in  the 


66       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

harem,  whether  of  free  women  or  slaves,  are  legiti- 
mate and  of  equal  lineage,  and  may  inherit  the  throne 
if  they  ever  become  the  head  of  the  family. 

The  daughters  of  the  Sultan  are  married  to  favorite 
pashas  and  officers  of  the  army.  He  confers  them 
upon  his  favorite  subjects  at  pleasure,  but  they  are  not 
always  regarded  as  a  blessing.  It  is  assuming  a  great 
responsibility  to  marry  the  daughter  or  the  sister  of 
the  Sultan.  They  are  very  exacting  and  naturally 
realize  their  rank  and  superiority  to  ordinary  people. 
They  are  expensive  luxuries  also,  because  an  imperial 
princess  must  live  in  a  certain  degree  of  state. 

Ladies  of  the  imperial  harem  almost  without  excep- 
tion wear  European  dress.  Only  the  most  recent 
arrivals,  girls  who  come  from  the  interior  of  the  coun- 
try, retain  the  native  costume.  The  sultanas  have 
French  maids  and  order  their  gowns  and  hats  in  Paris. 
Every  now  and  then  a  French  modiste  or  milliner 
arrives  in  Constantinople  with  samples  for  the  inspec- 
tion of  the  sultanas,  from  whom  she  receives  very  large 
and  liberal  orders.  Although  they  are  seldom  seen  by 
men,  the  inmates  of  the  harem  have  all  the  feminine 
instincts  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of  rivalry  among 
them.  We  saw  one  of  the  Sultan's  favorite  wives  and 
her  daughter  driving  in  a  victoria,  accompanied  by  a 
negro  eunuch  and  a  military  escort.  They  were 
dressed  in  European  fashion,  but  were  closely  veiled 
so  that  their  features  could  not  be  distinguished. 

The  apartments  of  the  harem  are  equipped  with 
European  furniture.  The  meals  are  served  in  Euro- 
pean style  and  the  cooks  are  French.  The  French 
language  is  spoken  generally  among  the  sultanas  and 
they  read  French  novels.  Turkish  customs  are  almost 
obsolete.     The  traditional  harem  in  which  houris  sit 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY         67 

around  upon  silk  rugs  with  their  legs  crossed  and  play- 
guitars  and  eat  sweetmeats  exists  only  in  the  imagina- 
tion. The  women  live  just  like  any  other  royal  family, 
except  that  they  are  not  allowed  to  receive  company 
or  enter  society,  and  when  they  leave  the  palace  they 
must  wear  heavy  veils.  When  the  Sultan's  wives  are 
ill  they  are  attended  by  the  male  physician  of  the  Brit- 
ish embassy.  This  is  also  an  innovation.  Formerly 
no  Christian  physician  was  allowed  in  the  harem.  The 
patients  are  always  veiled  when  the  doctor  visits  them. 
Even  if  they  are  confined  to  their  beds,  strips  of  mull 
are  thrown  over  their  faces. 

Abdul  Hamid  is  the  son  of  Abdul  Medjid,  who  abdi- 
cated in  1861  in  favor  of  his  eldest  son,  Abdul  Aziz. 
The  latter  reigned  until  1876,  when  he  was  overthrown 
and  his  next  brother,  Murad  V.,  was  placed  in  power. 
The  latter  was  an  impetuous  reformer  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  "Young  Turkey"  party,  which 
demands  a  constitution  and  a  change  in  the  form  of 
government  from  an  absolute  to  a  limited  monarchy. 
When  he  attempted  to  carry  his  ideas  into  effect  his 
ministers  pronounced  him  insane — and  perhaps  it  was 
an  evidence  of  insanity  to  introduce  liberal  reforms 
into  Turkey — so  they  shut  him  up  in  the  Tcheragan 
Palace,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus,  where  it  is 
supposed  that  he  still  resides  in  seclusion,  although  no 
one  is  bold  enough  to  show  curiosity  as  to  his  fate  in 
the  presence  of  those  who  would  be  apt  to  know.  It 
was  in  that  palace  also  that  Abdul  Aziz  died  after  his 
abdication.  So  reliable  a  witness  as  the  surgeon  of 
the  British  embassy  testified  that  it  was  a  case  of  sui- 
cide; that  the  deposed  Sultan,  in  a  fit  of  passion  and 
disappointment,  opened  the  arteries  in  his  arms  with  a 
pair  of  scissors  that  were  given  him  to  trim  his  nails. 


68      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

But  the  popular  theory  is  that  somebody  opened  them 
for  him  and  let  him  bleed  to  death.  Perhaps  Prince 
Murad  may  have  met  with  a  similar  fate  years  ago. 
He  has  not  been  seen  by  any  competent  witness  since 
the  spring  of  1877,  and  was  then  pronounced  to  be  in 
an  advanced  state  of  paresis — a  mere  idiot — but  the 
circumstance  that  the  Tcheragan  Palace  has  never  been 
opened  since,  and  is  as  closely  guarded  as  ever,  leads 
people  to  suppose  Murad  still  survives.  But,  as  I 
have  said,  nobody  but  the  confidential  eunuchs  of  the 
Sultan  knows  anything  about  him. 

The  heir  to  the  Turkish  throne  is  not  the  son  of  the 
Sultan,  but  his  eldest  living  male  relative — brother, 
son  or  cousin,  whoever  it  happens  to  be.  This  is  the 
law  of  Islam,  and  has  been  a  fruitful  source  of  con- 
spiracy and  tragedy  ever  since  the  Turks  have  been  in 
possession  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  It  was  formerly 
customary  for  a  new  Sultan  to  order  the  Immediate 
execution  of  all  his  brothers  as  soon  as  he  was  seated 
upon  the  throne;  but  public  sentiment  in  Europe  has 
forbidden  the  application  of  that  heroic  precaution 
during  the  last  fifty  or  sixty  years.  It  is  generally 
assumed  that  the  present  Sultan  would  like  to  murder 
his  brothers,  but  dare  not  do  so;  hence  he  keeps  them 
prisoners  or  constantly  under  surveillance  in  the  many 
palaces  of  Constantinople.  They  are  the  most  unhappy 
and  wretched  of  all  his  subjects.     He  has  five  brothers: 

Murad  Effendi,  born  September  21,  1840. 

Mohammed  Reshad  Effendi,  born  November  3,  1844. 

Kemel  Eddin  Effendi,  born  December  3,  1847. 

Suleiman  Effendi,  born  March  12,  i860. 

Wahid  Uddin  Effendi,  born  January  12,  1861. 

Reshad  Effendi,  the  second  brother,  is  therefore  the 
heir  to  the  throne,  and,  although  he  has  been  kept  a 


GATE  TO  IXII.MA  I'.  \(il  ITCIIKII  PALACK.  CONSTANTINOPLE 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  69 

practical  prisoner  for  twenty  years,  so  that  very  few 
people  know  him,  he  is  said  to  be  a  man  of  refine- 
ment, education  and  integrity,  much  superior  to  his 
imperial  brother  in  intellect  and  appearance.  He 
occupies  a  portion  of  the  Dolma-Baghtcheh  Palace  in 
Constantinople  during  the  winter  months,  and  during 
the  summer  goes  to  Machla,  a  suburban  town,  where 
he  has  a  farm  and  a  pretty  villa.  He  has  never  been 
allowed  to  leave  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  his  communications  with  the  outside  world 
have  been  closely  restricted  by  the  orders  of  his 
brother.  He  is  said  to  read  French  readily  and  to 
receive  the  principal  newspapers  and  reviews  of  Europe 
that  are  printed  in  that  language.  He  is  also  believed 
to  have  been  in  sympathy  and  in  communication  with 
his  brother-in-law,  the  late  Damad-Mahmoud  Pasha, 
who  fled  to  escape  a  sentence  of  death  for  his  liberal 
opinions.  This  is,  however,  purely  conjecture,  because 
if  the  Sultan,  with  all  his  spies,  cannot  discover  such 
a  circumstance,  it  would  seem  impossible  for  the  gos- 
sips to  learn  anything  about  it. 

Prince  Kemel  Eddin,  the  third  brother,  is  an  invalid, 
and  quite  as  feeble  in  mind  as  in  body,  with  a  low 
degree  of  cunning  and  strong  animal  instincts.  He 
inherits  the  family  tendency  to  pulmonary  complaints. 
Prince  Suleiman  and  Prince  Wahid  Uddin  are  allowed 
to  go  about  Constantinople  more  freely  than  the  other 
brothers,  and  are  quite  familiar  to  the  public,  better 
known  perhaps  than  any  other  members  of  the  family. 
Both  live  in  handsome  palaces  and  have  liberal  allow- 
ances from  the  public  revenues,  which  they  spend  with 
great  extravagance  in  luxury  and  vice.  Neither  Turks 
nor  foreigners  seem  to  care  much  for  them.  They 
have  no  social  position  and  very  few  friends. 


70      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

The  Sultan  has  several  sisters.  One  of  them,  Djemile 
Sultana,  six  years  older  than  he,  is  a  woman  of  strong 
character  and  has  a  great  deal  of  influence  with  her 
brother.  She  is  with  him  frequently  and  takes  an  active 
interest  in  public  affairs.  She  has  been  a  widow  since 
1858,  and  really  has  been  a  mother  to  him.  They  were 
born  of  the  same  mother,  a  Circassian  slave,  who  lost 
her  life  in  giving  him  birth,  and  hence  they  have  natu- 
rally been  very  much  attached  to  each  other.  The 
other  brothers  and  sisters  are  the  children  of  different 
wives  of  his  father.  As  previously  stated,  all  children 
born  in  the  harem,  whether  of  free  women  or  of  slaves, 
are  legitimate  and  of  equal  rank;  but,  by  the  law  of 
succession,  the  crown  is  inherited  by  the  senior  male 
descendant  of  Othman,  the  founder  of  the  present 
dynasty  in  1299.  Therefore,  so  long  as  he  has  any 
brothers  living,  the  children  of  Abdul  Hamid  will  not 
come  to  the  throne. 

The  Princess  Senieh  Sultana,  another  sister  of  Abdul 
Hamid,  is  about  fifty  years  old,  and  the  widow  of 
Mahmoud  Pasha,  who  was  the  leader  of  the  "Young 
Turkey"  party  and  for  years  an  active  advocate  of  its 
principles,  regardless  of  his  near  relationship  to  the 
Sultan.  His  conspiracies,  if  they  may  be  called  such, 
were  always  carried  on  directly  under  the  eyes  of  the 
Sultan,  and  of  course  were  very  offensive  to  him.  Mah- 
moud was  a  good  man,  judged  by  our  standard,  but  a 
great  traitor  and  an  unpardonable  villain  from  the 
Turkish  point  of  view.  He  was  educated  in  France  and 
England,  where  he  imbibed  liberal  ideas,  and,  return- 
ing to  Turkey,  married  the  Sultan's  sister  and  intro- 
duced into  his  own  family  many  of  the  customs  and 
ideas  which  he  had  acquired  in  western  Europe. 

Being  anxious  that  his  sons  should   have  a  liberal 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  71 

education,  he  sent  them  to  Robert  College,  the  Amer- 
ican Presbyterian  Institution  on  the  Bosphorus,  just 
beyond  the  Sultan's  palace,  which  was  founded  there 
half  a  century  ago  by  the  munificence  of  Mr.  Robert, 
an  American  merchant.  Mahmoud  Pasha  himself  went 
to  arrange  for  the  education  of  his  boys,  and  as  there 
were  reasons  why  he  did  not  wish  them  to  form  inti- 
macies with  the  ordinary  students,  he  persuaded  Dr. 
Washburn,  the  president  of  the  institution,  to  take 
them  into  his  own  family. 

The  boys  remained  there  just  two  days.  On  the 
evening  of  the  second  day  an  aide-de-camp  of  the 
Sultan  summoned  them  to  his  presence.  They  were 
conducted  to  Yildiz  Kiosk,  where  they  had  an  inter- 
view with  him,  and  were  offered  commissions  in  the 
army.  The  Sultan  told  their  father  that  they  must  be 
educated  according  to  Turkish  ideas  and  in  the 
Moslem  religion.  "We  have  been  educated  by  Turkish 
scholars,  selected  by  our  father,  who  was  a  wise  and 
learned  man,"  he  said,  "and  such  an  education  is  good 
enough  for  your  sons,  instead  of  sending  them  to  be 
taught  by  Christian  ^/^c'/zr.s  (infidels)."  The  boys  took 
commissions  in  the  army,  but  a  few  months  later  sur- 
rendered them  and  went  to  Paris,  where  they  have  since 
resided.  By  an  official  edict  of  the  Sultan  they  have 
been  degraded  from  their  princely  rank,  cashiered 
from  the  army,  banished  from  Constantinople  perma- 
nently and  their  allowances  cut  off.  In  1901  their 
father  was  also  formally  banished  after  he  had  fled 
from  the  city  to  escape  arrest  and  execution.  For 
several  months  his  whereabouts  were  unknown.  He 
was  then  discovered  to  be  living  quietly  at  Corfu,  one 
of  the  Greek  islands.  Being  compelled  to  leave  there 
he  went  to  Rome,  Geneva,  and  afterward  to  Brussels 


72       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

where  he  died  January  17,  1903.  His  wife,  the  Princess 
Senieh  Sultana,  is  supposed  to  be  imprisoned  some- 
where among  the  many  palaces  of  the  Sultan,  to 
prevent  her  from  joining  her  sons,  as  she  is  known 
to  sympathize  with  their  liberal  views. 

An  elder  sister,  the  Princess  Fatma  Sultana,  died 
insane  in  1892,  and  the  aberration  of  her  mind  was  a 
serious  shock  to  the  Sultan,  who  dreads  insanity  as 
much  as  he  dreads  death — perhaps  more.  She  was  the 
wife  of  a  military  adventurer,  Nouri  Damad  Pasha, 
who  was  sent  into  exile  and  afterward  assassinated  on 
suspicion. 

The  youngest  member  of  the  family,  the  Princess 
Medie  Sultana,  is  a  woman  of  quiet  disposition,  about 
forty  years  of  age,  who  lives  in  absolute  retirement, 
and  is  unknown  to  the  foreign  colony  of  Constanti- 
nople. Her  husband  is  Ferid  Pasha,  an  inoffensive 
but  respectable  army  ofificer. 

Two  or  three  members  of  the  immediate  family  of 
the  Sultan  have  given  him  much  trouble,  and  it  is 
from  his  own  household  that  he  fears  most.  He  trusts 
nobody.  He  reigns  alone.  His  ministers  are  merely 
his  instruments  and  very  few  of  them  have  any  influ- 
ence with  him,  although,  of  course,  he  is  compelled  to 
depend  upon  them  to  carry  out  his  orders  and  to 
furnish  him  information. 

Abdul  Hamid  has  ten  children — Mehcmmed  Selim, 
born  1870;  Abdul  Kidir,  born  1878;  Ahmed,  born  1878; 
Mehemmed  Burhan,  born  1885;  Abdur  Rahim,  born 
1892.  Zekie,  his  eldest  daughter,  born  1871,  was 
married  in  1889  to  Nur-ed-din  Pasha,  who  occupies  a 
high  position  in  the  military  department;  Naime,  a 
second  daughter,  born  1876,  is  the  wife  of  Mehemmed 
Kemal,  another  army  officer.     There  are  three  other 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  73 

daughters — Naile,  born  1884;  Shadieh,  born  1886,  and 
Ayisheh,  born  1887. 

So  far  as  I  was  able  to  find  out,  the  Sultan's  sons  are 
decent  fellows,  although  their  horizon  is  very  narrow. 
None  of  them  have  been  permitted  to  travel,  as  he 
does  not  wish  them  to  see  anything  of  the  world  for 
fear  of  weakening  their  faith  in  their  religion  and  their 
confidence  in  the  form  of  government  he  maintains. 
Their  education  has  been  intrusted  to  military  officers 
and  Moslem  priests,  and  they  will  probably  turn  out 
as  narrow,  bigoted  and  superstitious  as  their  father. 

Prince  Selim,  the  eldest  son,  is  more  respected  than 
any  other  member  of  the  family.  The  fact  that  there 
are  several  lives  between  him  and  the  throne  gives  him 
greater  freedom  than  he  would  otherwise  enjoy.  He 
was  born  in  January,  1870,  and  is,  therefore,  thirty-three 
years  old.  He  has  only  one  wife  and  keeps  no  harem, 
which  is  a  surprising  exception  in  the  imperial  family. 
He  holds  the  rank  of  colonel  in  the  army,  and  com- 
mands one  of  the  regiments  of  the  palace  guards.  His 
duties  are  light,  however,  and  leave  him  plenty  of 
leisure,  which  he  spends  in  study  with  French  and 
German  tutors,  although  I  understand  that  his  French 
tutors  were  recently  dismissed  by  command  of  the 
Sultan,  because  they  were  suspected  of  giving  the 
young  man  dangerous  information.  Prince  Selim  is 
not  intellectual,  however;  his  mind  is  said  to  be  rather 
dull,  but  he  is  patient  and  studious  and  has  a  retentive 
memory,  which  is  perhaps  better  for  a  man  of  his 
position  than  more  brilliant  attainments. 

Some  years  ago  Prince  Selim  incurred  the  enmity  of 
his  father  because  of  the  use  of  disrespectful  language, 
and  was  banished  to  Bagdad  for  several  months,  but 
was  allowed   to  return    to    Constantinople    under  the 


74       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

surveillance  of  Kiazim  Pasha,  his  maternal  uncle,  who 
has  the  confidence  of  the  Sultan.  The  relations 
between  the  prince  and  his  father  have  never  been 
fully  restored,  and  there  is  no  confidence  between 
them;  but  the  prince  receives  a  liberal  allowance  and 
is  allowed  to  do  practically  as  he  pleases,  although  he 
is  surrounded  by  spies  and  is  not  permitted  to  leave 
the  city.  He  seems  to  be  very  fond  of  his  wife,  who 
is  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  pashas  about  the  court, 
and  of  his  only  child,  a  little  girl  now  twelve  years  old. 

Ahmed,  the  third  son,  who  is  twenty-four  years  old, 
is  his  father's  favorite,  and  is  studying  military  tactics 
under  one  of  the  most  successful  of  Turkish  generals. 
He  is  destined  to  be  commander  of  the  army.  Burhan 
Eddin,  who  is  seventeen  years  old,  is  also  a  favorite 
and  has  considerable  musical  talent.  The  Sultan  fre- 
quently introduces  him  to  foreign  visitors,  and  has  him 
perform  for  them  upon  the  piano.  When  Emperor 
William  of  Germany  was  visiting  Constantinople, 
the  young  prince  was  detailed  as  one  of  his  attendants, 
and  the  members  of  the  Kaiser's  suite  took  a  great 
fancy  to  him.  He  was  then  only  about  fourteen  years 
old,  but  was  quite  mature,  and  conducted  himself  with 
great  dignity.  All  the  princes  are  educated  by  French 
and  German  tutors. 

The  Sultan  is  very  liberal  toward  his  family.  He  is 
absolute  master  of  the  finances  of  the  empire.  He  is 
not  required  to  prepare  a  budget  or  report  his  expend- 
itures. The  public  money  belongs  to  him  and  he 
directs  its  disbursement.  He  gives  each  one  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  a  palace  fully  furnished  and 
equipped,  and  all  their  household  expenses  are  paid 
from  the  imperial  treasury.  In  addition  to  this  each 
one  of    them   has   an  allowance  of    $5,000    a    month 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  75 

for  pin  money.  But  Abdul  Hamid  is  much  more 
economical  than  Abdul  Aziz,  his  predecessor,  who 
squandered  more  than  ^100,000,000  during  his  reign 
without  a  thing  to  show  for  it,  and  piled  up  a  debt  so 
big  that  it  can  never  be  paid.  The  public  bonds  now 
outstanding  amount  to  over  ^g; 50, 000, 000,  and  the 
revenues  of  the  government  can  scarcely  pay  the 
interest.  The  finances  of  Turkey,  like  those  of  other 
bankrupts,  are  controlled  by  a  committee  representing 
the  foreign  bondholders,  who  receive  from  the  treas- 
ury a  certain  amount  of  money  every  month  and  dis- 
tribute it  among  the  creditors  of  the  nation. 

A  Constantinople  physician  who  has  had  abundant 
opportunities  for  studying  his  case,  told  me  that  Abdul 
Hamid  is  a  victim  of  neurasthenia,  a  nervous  disease 
which  is  a  form  of  insanity,  and  that  his  psychological 
condition  presents  a  most  interesting  problem,  for  his 
symptoms  are  complex  and  vary  materially  from  time 
to  time.  He  is  naturally  very  intelligent,  but,  living 
in  continual  terror  of  assassination,  being  afflicted  with 
chronic  insomnia,  and  having  a  naturally  suspicious 
nature  abnormally  developed,  he  has  become  a  mono- 
maniac on  the  subject  of  self-preservation.  His  dispo- 
sition is  gentle,  and  if  he  had  lived  like  an  ordinary 
man  he  might  have  escaped  the  disease  from  which  he 
suffers  almost  continual  agony;  but  his  mistrust  of 
everyone  around  him  has  become  chronic,  and  he  has 
developed  a  cunning  that  is  never  at  a  loss  for  expe- 
dients. 

He  sleeps  only  two  or  three  hours  out  of  the  twenty- 
four,  and  then  only  when  somebody  is  reading  to  him, 
or  some  orchestra  or  musician  is  performing  in  the 
adjoining  room.  Darkness  frightens  him.  There- 
fore a  light  is  always  kept  burning  in  his  chamber,  and 


76       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Ismet  Bey,  grand  master  of  the  imperial  wardrobe, 
always  sleeps  in  the  same  room.  Ismet  Bey  is  his 
foster  brother,  and  probably  possesses  his  confidence 
more  fully  than  any  other  man.  Because  he  resembles 
the  Sultan  so  closely  in  appearance,  it  is  believed 
among  the  gossips  of  Constantinople  that  he  often  im- 
personates His  Majesty  at  ceremonies  and  on  other 
occasions  where  the  latter  is  likely  to  be  exposed  to  the 
danger  of  assassination 

Ismet  Bey  carries  the  keys  to  his  desk,  his  ward- 
robe and  his  treasury  caskets,  and  is  perhaps  trusted 
farther  and  knows  more  secrets  than  any  other  man 
about  the  palace;  but  he  has  no  influence  whatever 
with  the  Sultan  and  would  not  attempt  to  exercise  it 
if  he  did,  for  it  would  be  fatal  to  him.  By  a  lifetime 
of  devotion,  as  unselfish  as  any  Turk  can  render,  he 
has  demonstrated  his  loyalty  and  disinterestedness. 

The  Sultan  is  always  restless  and  is  awakened  at  the 
slightest  sound.  When  he  awakes  he  always  wants 
somebody  to  talk  to,  and  Elias  Bey,  second  officer  of 
the  wardrobe,  or  Faik  Bey,  one  of  his  confidential 
secretaries,  is  usually  at  hand  for  that  purpose.  The 
Sultan  sleeps  in  a  detached  chamber,  surrounded  by 
corridors  on  all  four  sides,  and  it  is  a  popular  impres- 
sion that  the  walls  are  of  steel.  Four  or  five  sentinels 
slowly  pace  the  corridors  during  the  entire  night,  and 
if  the  regular  measure  of  their  footsteps  is  interrupted 
the  Sultan  will  waken  and  inquire  the  cause.  In 
addition  to  this  guard  an  officer  sits  at  each  corner  of 
the  corridor,  where  he  can  see  both  ways.  In  order 
to  prevent  a  conspiracy,  a  detail  for  this  purpose  is 
made  from  among  the  subalterns  of  the  different  regi- 
ments about  the  palace  every  night.  The  names  are 
drawn  by  lot  a  few  moments  before  the  hour  and  no 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  77 

one  knows  of  his  selection  until  he  receives  orders  to 
report.  These  officers  have  watches  of  four  hours 
each,  coming  on  duty  at  sunset  and  remaining  until 
sunrise.  The  Sultan  is  such  a  light  sleeper  that  he 
awakens  every  time  the  guard  is  changed. 

He  is  extremely  fond  of  music,  and  when  restless, 
his  orchestra,  which  is  under  the  direction  of  Dussap 
Pasha,  is  required  to  play  all  night,  or  until  orders  are 
sent  to  relieve  them.  His  Majesty  is  also  fond  of  the- 
atrical and  vaudeville  performances  and  similar  diver- 
sions, finding  them  a  relief  from  his  perpetual  fears. 
A  theater  connected  with  the  palace  has  two  troupes 
of  well-paid  actors  for  dramatic  and  musical  perform- 
ances. One  of  them  is  composed  of  Turkish  and  the 
other  of  French  and  Italian  artists.  Foreign  actresses 
and  opera  singers  who  visit  Constantinople  are  always 
anxious  to  appear  before  His  Majesty,  because  they  not 
only  receive  liberal  compensation  from  the  master  of 
ceremonies,  but,  if  they  happen  to  please.  His  Majesty 
is  sure  to  present  them  with  valuable  jewels.  Few 
people  except  members  of  the  imperial  family  are 
permitted  to  attend  these  performances.  When  the 
Sultan  invites  one  of  the  ambassadors,  as  he  some- 
times does,  it  is  considered  a  mark  of  unusual  dis- 
tinction. 

The  Sultan's  dress  is  extremely  simple  and  free 
from  extravagance.  He  wears  a  military  uniform  and 
a  campaign  cloak  such  as  is  worn  by  the  ordinary 
officers  of  the  army.  His  jewels,  however,  are  unsur- 
passed by  any  of  the  sovereigns  of  Europe.  When  His 
Majesty  requires  a  new  suit  of  clothes  Ismet  Bey,  his 
foster  brother,  is  used  as  a  model  by  the  tailor,  as  he 
and  the  Sultan  are  almost  of  the  same  size. 

His  diet  is  also  very  simple.     He  eats  very  little,  of 


78       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  plainest  food,  and  never  touches  wine  nor  liquors  of 
any  kind,  but  consumes  enormous  quantities  of  coffee, 
which  aggravates  his  nervousness.  Up  to  a  few  years 
ago  a  servant  with  a  coffee  pot  always  followed  him 
when  he  went  out  for  exercise,  and  while  driving  in 
the  park  coffee  stations  were  placed  at  frequent  inter- 
vals, where  he  could  stop  and  refresh  himself.  By  the 
advice  of  his  physicians  he  now  limits  himself  to  five 
or  six  cups  of  his  favorite  beverage  a  day,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  has  himself  noticed  an  improvement  in  his 
health.  He  is  not  so  nervous  and  sleeps  better.  Gen- 
eral Porter,  the  American  ambassador  to  Paris,  told 
me  of  a  dinner  at  the  Yildiz  Kiosk,  when  the  Sultan 
ate  little  but  American  corn  bread  and  soup.  His 
meals  are  cooked  separately  from  those  served  to  his 
family  and  guests,  and  the  same  man  always  prepares 
them  in  a  little  room,  like  a  laboratory,  not  bigger  than 
an  ordinary  bathroom.  During  their  preparation  an 
inspector  always  watches  the  cook  for  fear  of  poison. 
The  food  purchased  for  the  Sultan's  use  is  kept  in  a 
huge  safe  to  which  his  private  chef  alone  has  the  key. 
Eggs  and  milk  are  the  principal  articles  of  his  diet. 
He  seldom  touches  meat,  but  at  dinner  usually  has 
one  or  two  vegetables. 

Not  being  able  to  sleep,  the  Sultan  does  not  retire 
before  midnight,  and  is  always  up  by  4:30  or  5  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  when  he  puts  on  a  long  silken  robe, 
takes  a  cup  of  coffee,  smokes  a  few  cigarettes  and 
reads  his  correspondence.  About  seven  o'clock  he 
takes  a  bath,  and  then  a  breakfast  of  eggs  and  rolls 
and  more  coffee.  At  one  o'clock  his  luncheon  is 
served,  which  is  seldom  more  than  a  crust  of  bread 
and  a  glass  of  milk — perhaps  a  small  omelet.  Although 
he  takes  his  breakfast  and  luncheon  alone,  his  dinners 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  FAMILY  79 

are  always  served  with  great  ceremony.  His  younger 
sons,  several  of  his  secretaries  and  usually  two  or  three 
of  his  ministers  dine  with  him.  The  list  of  his  guests 
is  usually  made  out  by  the  grand  chamberlain  of  the 
palace  and  submitted  to  His  Majesty's  approval.  The 
dinner  is  served  at  eight  o'clock  in  French  style,  with 
liveried  attendants  and  an  orchestra  in  the  balcony  of 
the  state  dining-room,  which  is  a  gorgeous  apartment. 
As  a  formality  each  course  is  placed  before  the  Sultan 
by  the  chief  butler  before  it  is  served  to  his  guests, 
although  he  never  touches  it  himself,  his  own  food 
being  brought  from  his  private  kitchen  by  his  personal 
attendant.  Sometimes  he  dines  in  his  harem,  where 
his  sisters  and  wives  and  daughters  receive  him  with 
great  ceremony. 

Yildiz,  the  park  in  which  the  palace  is  situated,  is  a 
veritable  city,  with  a  population  of  nearly  5,000, 
including  the  members  of  the  official  staff  and  their 
families,  the  women  of  the  harem,  their  slaves  and 
eunuchs,  the  princes  and  sultanas,  with  their  house- 
holds and  servants,  the  chambermaids,  aides-de-camp, 
the  imperial  guard,  which  consists  of  several  regi- 
ments, musicians,  clerks,  gardeners,  grooms,  valets, 
domestics  and  other  employes,  including  a  number  of 
masons,  carpenters  and  other  mechanics.  The  Sultan 
has  a  machine-shop  for  the  repair  of  machinery  used 
upon  the  place,  an  arsenal,  which  contains  several 
thousand  stands  of  arms  for  both  sport  and  war,  and 
samples  of  all  patents  and  styles.  He  has  also  a  very 
rich  collection  of  antique  oriental  arms. 

One  of  His  Majesty's  fads  is  the  manufacture  of  por- 
celain. He  has  recently  set  up  a  factory  in  the  park 
and  imported  a  number  of  French  artists,  who  are 
making  placques  and  other  ornaments.     He  is  fond  of 


So      The  TURK  ayid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

wild  animals  and  has  quite  an  interesting  zoological 
garden,  with  one  of  the  best  kennels  of  dogs  in  the 
world. 

I  was  informed  by  a  high  authority  in  Constanti- 
nople that  the  Sultan  pays  $500,000  annually  as 
subsidies  to  newspapers  in  Vienna,  Berlin,  Paris  and 
other  cities  of  Europe  to  defend  him  and  his  acts  and 
create  public  sentiment  in  his  favor.  After  the  Arme- 
nian massacres,  a  few  years  ago,  he  distributed  more 
than  $1,000,000  among  the  newspapers  that  treated 
him  kindly.  Notwithstanding  his  self-enforced  seclu- 
sion, he  is  as  familiar  with  European  affairs  as  any 
man  on  the  continent,  and  scarcely  anything  that 
appears  in  print  of  importance  or  interest  concerning 
him  or  his  empire  fails  to  meet  his  eye.  His  ambas- 
sadors and  ministers  at  the  different  capitals  are 
instructed  to  secure  all  press  clippings  that  relate  to 
Turkey  and  forward  them  to  a  central  information 
bureau  in  Constantinople,  where  they  are  classified, 
translated  and  arranged  for  the  Sultan's  inspection. 
He  spends  a  great  deal  of  time  reading  them  and 
frequently  receives  important  suggestions  and  infor- 
mation from  them. 

I  was  repeatedly  warned  that  every  newspaper  letter 
I  wrote  from  Turkey  would  be  read  by  the  Sultan  per- 
sonally. Missionaries  and  others  from  whom  I 
obtained  information  frequently  asked  me  not  to 
publish  certain  things,  because  the  Sultan  was  certain 
to  see  them  and  trace  them  to  their  source.  One  gen- 
tleman, in  giving  me  an  account  of  a  certain  enter- 
prise, remarked:  "I  wish  you  would  say  that  the 
Sultan  takes  a  great  interest  in  our  affairs.  It  will  do 
you  no  harm  and  will  do  us  a  great  deal  of  good,  for 
he  is  certain  to  see  your  letter  and  will  be  pleased," 


THE  SULTAN  AND  HIS  P^AMILY         8i 

The  largest  sums  of  money  expended  in  purchasing 
the  good  opinion  of  the  press  are  expended  in 
Germany  and  France,  for  the  Kaiser  is  the  Sultan's 
best  friend  and  most  reliable  supporter,  and  he  is 
pleased  when  the  German  newspapers  approve  his 
policy. 

Although  the  censorship  in  Turkey  is  very  strict,  the 
Sultan  is  a  thorough  believer  in  the  usefulness  and 
importance  of  the  press,  and  in  1886  conceived  the 
idea  of  founding  a  great  national  journal,  to  be  pub- 
lished in  the  Turkish  and  French  languages  and  to  be 
for  Turkey  what  the  London  Times  is  to  Great  Brit- 
ain. He  appointed  a  committee  of  five  of  his  minis- 
ters and  secretaries  to  formulate  a  plan  and  prepare 
estimates  of  the  cost,  but  when  he  received  a  report 
and  found  how  expensive  a  luxury  his  proposed  news- 
paper would  be,  he  abandoned  the  idea. 


IV 


THE    SELAMLIK 


On  Friday  of  each  week — the  Mohammedan  Sabbath 
— occurs  the  Selamlik,  the  one  occasion  on  which  the 
public  may  see  the  Sultan,  although  at  a  great  distance 
for  most  of  them.  The  Moslem  law  requires  the  head 
of  the  church  to  make  a  formal  prayer  at  some  mosque 
at  least  once  a  week,  and  Friday  is  the  day  naturally 
chosen.  Therefore  the  Sultan  must  go,  sick  or  well, 
to  worship  publicly.  If  he  could  not  perform  this  duty 
his  ministers  would  dress  up  a  dummy  and  send  it  in  a 
closed  carriage  in  his  place,  because  the  act  of  rever- 
ence must  be  performed  though  the  heavens  fall.  The 
Sultan  has  his  own  little  mosque  attached  to  the 
palace,  where  he  prays  frequently  and  with  great  reg- 
ularity, often  abruptly  leaving  his  ministers  and  others 
with  whom  he  is  engaged  on  business  when  the  cry  of 
the  muezzin  is  heard  from  the  neighboring  minaret. 
No  man  is  more  devout  or  scrupulous  in  the  observ- 
ances of  the  ritual  in  which  he  believes,  and  in  that 
way  he  sets  a  good  example  to  his  subjects. 

Abdul  Hamid's  public  worship  is  performed  at 
Hamidieh  Mosque,  a  pretty  structure  within  the  impe- 
rial park  and  close  to  the  high  iron  fence  which 
surrounds  it,  so  that  those  who  enter  and  leave  the 
temple  may  be  seen  from  the  street.  There  is  a  large 
vacant  lot,  with  rising  ground,  across  the  road, 
intended  for  a  drilling  ground  for  cavalry,  and  on 
every  Friday  it  is  crowded  with  the  carriages  of  those 
who    are    curious    to    see    the    Sultan,    and    are    not 

82 


THE   SELAMLIK  83 

allowed  to  approach  any  nearer  to  him.  Formerly  the 
Selamliks  were  more  public.  There  was  a  wooden 
pavilion,  a  sort  of  grand  stand  for  spectators,  which 
was  generally  crowded  by  strangers  visiting  the  city, 
members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  and  others  who  were 
fortunate  enough  to  get  tickets,  but  since  the  assassi- 
nation of  King  Humbert  of  Italy  and  President 
McKinley,  it  has  been  torn  down  and  no  more  invita- 
tions are  issued,  although  upon  the  personal  applica- 
tion of  the  ambassadors  the  Sultan  will  sometimes 
admit  foreigners  whom  they  vouch  for.  Guests  are 
allowed  to  witness  the  ceremony  from  the  windows  or 
the  roof  of  the  neighboring  palace,  but  no  one  else  is 
permitted  inside  the  grounds  except  officials  of  the 
government,  officers  of  the  army  and  pilgrims  who 
constantly  visit  Constantinople  in  large  numbers.  The 
public  must  be  contented  with  looking  through  the 
bars  of  the  iron  fence  or  witnessing  the  pageant 
through  field-glasses  from  the  tops  of  the  neighboring 
hills. 

We  were  at  Constantinople  during  the  pilgrim 
season,  when  faithful  Mohammedans  on  their  way  to 
Mecca  were  arriving  daily  from  Russia  and  the  sur- 
rounding states  as  well  as  from  all  parts  of  the  Otto- 
man Empire  to  pay  their  respects  to  the  Sultan,  who 
is  the  visible  head  of  their  church,  and  to  the  Sheik- 
ul-Islam,  his  vicar  in  charge  of  ecclesiastical  affairs. 
They  are  admitted  to  the  Selamlik  when  properly 
vouched  for,  but  the  police  are  very  careful  to  see  that 
no  assassin  disguised  as  a  pilgrim  shall  pass  the  gates. 
The  pilgrims  occupy  a  plot  bordering  upon  the  road- 
way over  which  the  Sultan  drives.  As  he  approaches 
they  utter  a  peculiar  cry.  It  sounds  more  like  a  wail 
than  a  cheer,  and  is  supposed  to  express  reverence  and 


84       The  TURK  aiid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

admiration  rather  than  enthusiasm.  It  is  the  saluta- 
tion of  the  true  believer  to  the  head  of  his  church,  but 
if  anyone  were  to  make  such  a  noise  at  the  approach 
of  President  Roosevelt  or  any  of  the  sovereigns  of 
Europe  he  would  be  immediately  arrested  as  a  dan- 
gerous person.  When  the  Sultan  has  gone  by,  the 
pilgrims  bow  their  heads  in  reverence  and  afterward 
push  forward  and  kiss  the  ground  over  which  the 
wheels  of  his  carriage  have  passed.  Many  of  them 
are  venerable  men,  priests  as  well  as  laymen,  and  as 
each  wears  the  costume  of  his  country  the  group 
usually  presents  a  picturesque  appearance  and  adds 
much  to  the  interest  of  the  scene.  Those  with  green 
turbans  are  descendants  of  the  Prophet  Mohammed 
and  constitute  a  clan  of  themselves.  They  have  main- 
tained their  individuality  during  all  the  centuries,  like 
the  house  of  David  among  the  Jews,  but  it  gives  them 
no  material  advantages.  They  honor  themselves  more 
than  they  are  honored  by  others.  You  see  laborers 
wearing  green  turbans;  yea,  even  the  children  of  the 
prophet  begging  bread  from  infidels. 

There  is  very  little  to  be  seen  at  a  Selamlik  except 
the  military  display.  And  that  is  splendid.  Nearly 
the  entire  garrison  of  Constantinople,  numbering 
12,000  or  15,000  of  the  picked  soldiers  of  the  Turkish 
army,  appear  every  Friday  in  brilliant  and  peculiar 
uniforms,  line  the  roadway  over  which  the  Sultan 
passes,  surround  the  mosque  in  which  he  worships  and 
are  packed  into  the  grounds  until  their  red  fezzes  and 
glistening  bayonets  light  up  the  entire  park.  There 
are  regiments  of  Nubians,  Soudanese,  Albanians, 
Arabs,  Syrians,  Kurds,  Turkestanese,  Bokharans, 
Georgians,  Circassians  and  other  races  unknown  to 
us,   which   cannot  be  seen    elsewhere.     The    red    fez, 


THE   SELAMLIK  85 

white  turbans,  gold  lace,  stripes  and  sashes,  white 
gloves,  red  and  green  banners  and  the  glitter  of  the 
arms  make  a  brilliant  combination,  and  one  must 
acknowledge  that  the  soldiers  of  the  Sultan  are  fine- 
looking  fellows,  although  they  may  be  as  wicked  and 
as  cruel  as  represented.  They  are  all  Moslems.  No 
Christian  is  admitted  to  the  army,  but  every  Christian, 
Jew  and  Gentile  subject  of  military  age  is  required  to 
furnish  a  Moslem  substitute.  There  are  numerous 
military  bands  playing  modern  music  very  poorly,  and 
it  may  gratify  Mr.  Sousa  to  know  that  his  marches  are 
as  popular  in  Turkey  as  elsewhere.  The  pashas  and 
generals  wear  dazzling  uniforms,  covered  with  gold 
braid  and  lace,  and  other  officers,  bedecked  with  equal 
brilliancy,  seem  innumerable.  The  grounds  of  the 
palace  suddenly  become  an  ocean  of  gold  lace  and  red 
fezzes. 

When  a  carriage  arrived  with  a  black  man  upon  the 
box  in  the  footman's  place,  we  knew  it  brought  ladies 
from  the  harem  with  a  eunuch  in  charge.  While  all 
black  men  are  not  eunuchs,  all  eunuchs  are  black. 
They  are  brought  from  Africa  and  Arabia  when 
children  and  are  purchased  like  other  slaves.  The 
Sultan's  wives  and  sisters  usually  attend  the  Selamlik, 
but  have  their  own  place  in  the  mosque  partitioned  off 
by  screens.  They  cannot  even  enter  the  same  door 
with  their  sovereign  master.  He  must  pray  alone. 
Only  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  the  high  priest  of  the 
Moslems,  or  some  great  mnfti  designated  to  represent 
him,  is  admitted,  whose  presence  is  necessary  to  carry 
out  the  ritual. 

The  guardian  of  the  harem,  the  kizlar-agliasi,  or 
chief  eunuch,  who  ranks  next  to  the  grand  vizier  and 
the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  was  present,  having  in  charge  four 


86      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

sultanas.  Each  had  her  own  carriage  drawn  by  white 
horses  and  a  military  escort  and  was  attended  by 
ladies-in-waiting.  Three  of  the  Sultan's  sons  rode  on 
horseback  among  the  pashas  that  formed  his  body- 
guard, and  another,  a  little  chap  about  ten  years  old, 
had  a  tiny  brougham  drawn  by  ponies  similar  to  that 
used  by  Tom  Thumb.  He  was  accompanied  by  his 
tutor,  an  officer  of  the  army,  and  by  a  little  aide-de-camp 
of  his  own  age,  a  miniature  imitation  of  those  who 
attended  his  imperial  father.  The  little  prince  was  in 
the  uniform  of  a  colonel  of  the  army,  wearing  a  sword 
and  baby  revolvers,  and  his  aide  was  dressed  to  corre- 
spond. 

Another  carriage,  one  of  the  latest  arrivals,  was 
occupied  by  a  little  girl — one  of  the  Sultan's  daughters, 
attended  by  a  woman  with  unveiled  face,  wearing  a 
violet  satin  gown.  Hence  we  knew  her  to  be  a 
foreigner  and  were  told  that  she  was  the  little  sultana's 
French  governess.  We  noticed  that  she  sent  one  of 
her  attending  eunuchs  with  a  coin  to  a  crippled  beggar 
who  caught  her  eye  outside  the  gates. 

After  the  carriages  came  two  covered  vans  like  those 
used  in  the  United  States  to  move  furniture.  They 
backed  up  to  the  entrance  of  the  mosque  and  dis- 
charged a  lot  of  rugs,  chairs,  chests  and  other  things 
that  were  carried  inside,  but  I  could  not  find  out  what 
they  were  for  or  why  they  should  be  delivered  just  at 
this  time.  Then  a  squad  of  servants  in  long  white 
robes  came  out  of  the  mosque,  washed  the  marble 
steps  and  dried  them  carefully  with  cloths,  after  which 
they  spread  a  long  rug  that  reached  from  the  grave! 
roadway  to  the  vestibule,  so  that  His  Majesty's  feet 
might  not  touch  the  vulgar  earth,  and  fastened  it  down 
with  brass  rods.     Then  appeared  a  dozen  carts  loaded 


THE   SELAMLIK  87 

with  sand,  which  was  sprinkled  along  the  roadway  to 
absorb  the  moisture  and  deaden  the  noise  of  the 
wheels.  When  these  preparations  were  complete  the 
notes  of  a  trumpet  were  heard  in  the  distance — the 
signal  that  the  Sultan  had  left  the  palace  and  was  on 
his  way.  A  white-robed  muezzin  with  a  big  turban 
appeared  upon  the  balcony  of  the  beautiful  minaret 
and  gave  the  conventional  call  to  prayer,  only  his  cry 
was  louder  and  the  wail  more  prolonged  than  usual. 
Two  columns  of  pashas  and  generals  in  brilliant  uni- 
form, on  horseback,  appeared  around  the  curve,  riding 
slowly,  and  when  the  leaders  reached  the  steps  of  the 
mosque  they  opened  ranks,  facing  each  other,  and 
formed  an  aisle  for  the  Sultan  to  pass  through.  They 
were  an  additional  guard  for  his  safety. 

The  general  of  the  army,  a  stern-looking  man  with 
an  intellectual  forehead,  large  gray  eyes,  a  Roman 
nose  and  a  grizzled  beard,  mounted  upon  a  magnificent 
charger,  next  appeared,  surrounded  by  his  staff. 
Formerly  Osman  Pasha,  the  hero  of  the  Russo-Turkish 
war,  held  this  position  and  attended  his  sovereign 
regularly  each  Friday  until  his  death.  Closely  follow- 
ing him,  surrounded  by  a  squad  of  officers  running  on 
foot,  came  a  low  carriage  drawn  by  a  pair  of  beauti- 
ful white  horses,  in  which  sat  Abdul  Hamid,  the 
Sultan  of  Turkey  and  the  successor  of  the  Prophet  of 
Islam.  On  the  opposite  seat  was  the  minister  of  war 
— one  more  precaution — and  it  is  said  that  the  standing 
order  to  the  bodyguard  is  to  shoot  down  that  official 
instantly  in  case  an  attack  is  made  upon  the  Sultan. 
He  is  held  responsible  for  the  safety  of  his  imperial 
master,  and  if  the  protection  provided  by  him  proves 
inadequate  his  punishment  is  death.  Riza  Pasha,  the 
present  minister  of  war,  is  a  large,  fat  man,  so  large 


88       The  TURK  ami  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

that  the  diminutive  figure  of  the  Sultan  looked  very 
small  by  contrast.  Abdul  Hamid  is  slight  of  stature 
and  weighs  only  135  pounds.  He  looks  like  the  late 
Jay  Gould  and  the  late  Matias  Romero,  for  many 
years  Mexican  ambassador  to  the  United  States.  He 
wore  a  shabby  military  overcoat  and  a  red  fez.  His 
face  is  very  melancholy.  His  eyes  are  large  and  have 
a  wandering  look.  He  is  said  to  be  the  saddest  man 
on  earth,  and  he  looks  it.  An  escort  of  young  offi- 
cers on  foot  followed  the  carriage,  the  Sultan's  aides- 
de-camp  and  secretaries,  and  as  the  pageant  proceeded 
everybody  saluted  and  bowed.  The  crowd  outside  the 
gates  cheered,  but  were  not  very  enthusiastic.  The 
Sultan's  eyes  took  in  everything.  They  surveyed  the 
scene  with  extraordinary  rapidity.  His  officers  say 
that  he  never  overlooks  anything  that  is  amiss.  ?Ie 
can  see  where  a  button  is  off  the  coat  of  a  soldier  as 
he  rides  by. 

The  imperial  group  was  followed  by  an  empty 
phaeton  drawn  by  a  pair  of  white  horses  with  gold- 
mounted  harness  and  half-blankets  of  leopard  skin, 
and  also  by  five  saddle  horses — the  most  beautiful 
animals  you  ever  saw — so  that  the  Sultan  could  choose 
among  them  if  he  should  take  the  whim  to  ride  back 
to  the  palace  from  the  ceremony.  As  he  passed  the 
pilgrims  he  bowed  to  them  several  times.  When  he 
reached  the  mosque  he  stopped  upon  the  steps,  turned 
around,  faced  them  and  bowed  and  bowed  again,  while 
they  uttered  the  peculiar  wail  that  I  have  described. 
He  then  entered  the  vestibule,  followed  by  the  minister 
of  war  and  several  of  his  aides. 

While  the  Sultan  was  at  prayer  strips  of  matting 
were  unrolled  upon  the  pavement,  and  the  pilgrims, 
swarming  out,  kneeled  upon  it  with  their  faces  toward 


THE  SELAMLIK  89 

Mecca  and  went  through  their  devotions,  a  priest 
leading  them  This  continued  for  half  an  hour  or  so, 
until  the  Sultan  reappeared,  got  into  the  phaeton, 
took  the  reins  in  his  own  hands  and  drove  back  to  the 
palace  surrounded  by  his  aides-de-camp  and  secretaries 
on  foot,  who  are  compelled  to  run  at  full  speed  to 
keep  up  with  him.  This  pageant  is  witnessed  every 
Friday,  but  it  is  conducted  with  so  many  safeguards 
and  precautions  that  the  military  display  is  not  seen 
at  its  full  effect. 

There  is  no  particular  place  for  the  burial  of 
Sultans.  Each  Sultan  usually  builds  his  own  tomb, 
according  to  his  own  taste  and  extravagance,  but 
throughout  the  city  may  be  found  several  tnrbcts,  or 
tombs,  containing  the  bodies  of  one  or  more  Sultans 
with  their  favorite  wives  beside  them.  The  graves 
are  covered  with  plain  cenotaphs  of  stuccoed  brick 
four  or  five  feet  high  and  seven  or  eight  feet  long, 
draped  with  covers  of  black  broadcloth  or  velvet, 
exquisitely  embroidered  with  silver  or  gold,  and  upon 
them  are  usually  several  cashmere  shawls  of  the  very 
finest  texture,  fabrics  of  priceless  value,  gifts  and 
tributes  from  neighboring  kings  and  governors.  Dis- 
tinguished men,  Sultans  and  others,  are  buried  in  the 
different  mosques,  the  most  sacred  being  that  of  Eyub 
Ansari,  the  standard-bearer  and  most  intimate  com- 
panion of  the  Prophet  Mohammed,  who  was  killed 
by  the  Arabs  at  the  siege  of  Constantinople,  A.D. 
668.  His  burial-place  was  revealed  in  a  dream  to  a 
celebrated  priest  during  the  attack  of  Mohammed  H. 
upon  Constantinople,  and  its  discovery  inflamed  the 
fanaticism  of  the  Turkish  soldiers  to  such  a  degree 
that  their  next  attack  upon  the  city  was  irresistible. 
After  the  capture  Mohammed  H.  erected  the  mosque 


90      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

of  Eyub  upon  the  site  of  the  grave,  and  it  is  held  so 
sacred  that  no  Christian  has  ever  been  allowed  to 
enter  the  gates  of  the  walls  that  surround  it,  or  even 
to  live  in  the  neighborhood.  It  is  a  beautiful  building 
of  white  marble,  with  a  large  dome,  two  small  domes 
and  many  semi-domes,  and  two  graceful  minarets.  It 
stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Golden  Horn  about  five 
miles  from  the  city,  and  upon  the  accession  of  a  new 
Sultan  a  ceremony  corresponding  to  the  coronation  of 
a  Christian  sovereign  takes  place  there.  After  per- 
forming an  elaborate  service  of  prayer  the  new  Sultan 
is  girded  with  the  sword  of  Osman,  the  founder  of  the 
dynasty,  by  the  superior  of  the  dervishes.  The  sword 
of  Osman  always  lies  upon  the  tomb  of  Eyub,  con- 
stantly watched  by  relays  of  the  priests  and  monks  who 
have  charge  of  the  temple.  The  tomb  is  of  silver  gilt 
and  elaborate  workmanship,  covered  with  a  cloth  of 
gold,  surrounded  by  a  high  gilt  railing  and  overhung 
with  many  costly  lamps. 

At  the  village  is  a  factory  in  which  are  made  the 
fezzes  worn  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Turkish  army. 


A  ^tki:i:t  of  constaniinofle 


V 

THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK 
Poets,  painters  and  other  people  with  vivid  imagi- 
nations and  emotional  natures  have  become  ecstatic  in 
describing  the  city  of  the  Grand  Turk,  and  while  it 
has  unique  and  exquisite  attractions,  it  is  no  more 
beautiful  than  New  York  or  San  Francisco,  Rio  de 
Janeiro,  Naples,  Hongkong  or  half  a  dozen  other  cities 
I  might  name.  There  is  none  of  the  barbaric  splendor, 
the  gold  and  purple  and  blue  and  scarlet  of  Moscow,  as 
seen  from  the  Sparrow  Hills;  nor  the  fantastic  pagodas 
and  temples  of  Kioto  or  Peking.  It  has  none  of  the 
quiet  dignity  of  Stockholm  or  the  soft  beauty  of 
Naples,  but  the  colors  that  are  lacking  and  the  gor- 
geousness  that  is  invisible  is  readily  supplied  by  the 
imaginations  of  tourists,  who  generally  see  what  they 
expect  to  see,  no  matter  whether  it  is  there  or  not. 
You  find  the  same  trouble  in  Holland  and  Spain  after 
reading  the  books  of  D'Amicis,  and  at  Venice  after 
studying  Ruskin.  Perhaps  it  is  the  fault  of  the 
observer,  who  lacks  sufficient  sentiment,  but  when  you 
begin  to  dissect  the  scene  and  separate  the  actual  from 
the  imaginary  the  criticism  of  practical  minds  is  sus- 
tained. 

The  continents  of  Europe  and  Asia  are  separated  by 
the  Sea  of  Marmora,  which  is  no  miles  long  and  40 
miles  wide  in  its  widest  part.  At  the  west  end  it  is 
entered  through  the  Hellespont  or  Dardanelles,  a 
deep  and  swift  stream  or  strait,  about  as  wide  as  the 
Hudson  River.    The  place  where  Leander  swam  across 

91 


Q2       The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

to  visit  Hero,  his  sweetheart,  and  where  Lord  Byron 
imitated  his  example,  is  only  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  wide,  and  although  to  swim  it  was  a  prodigious  feat 
in  those  days,  it  would  not  be  more  than  an  ordinary 
adventure  to  many  members  of  a  modern  athletic  club. 

At  its  east  end  the  Sea  of  Marmora  is  connected 
with  the  Black  Sea  by  the  Bosphorus,  a  channel  similar 
to  the  Hellespont.  These  streams,  which  form  a 
remarkable  boundary  between  the  continents,  have 
always  been  regarded  of  great  strategic  importance, 
and  from  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  to  Alexan- 
der n.  of  Russia  have  been  fought  for  by  rival  nations. 

Where  the  Bosphorus  joins  the  Sea  of  Marmora  there 
is  a  little  bay,  about  half  a  mile  wide  at  its  mouth, 
growing  gradually  narrower  and  curving  like  a  cornu- 
copia for  about  three  miles  through  the  hills  to  a  point 
where  it  receives  fresh  water  from  a  little  stream. 
This  bay  is  called  the  Golden  Horn.  Between  the 
Golden  Horn  and  the  Sea  of  Marmora  is  a  tongue  of 
land  similar  in  size  and  shape  to  Manhattan  Island, 
upon  which  New  York  is  built,  except  that  it  is  higher 
in  the  center,  This  ridge,  or  "hog's  back,"  rises  about 
five  hundred  feet  above  the  water,  and  at  intervals  is 
broken  by  gullies,  several  of  them  very  wide  and  deep, 
— gashes  that  have  been  cut  into  the  soil  by  water. 
This  ridge  or  tongue  of  land  is  occupied  by  the  old  city 
of  Stamboul,  and  upon  the  extreme  point,  correspond- 
ing to  Battery  Park,  New  York,  is  located  the  Seraglio, 
a  group  of  palaces  occupied  by  the  Sultans  before  the 
nineteenth  century.  An  imposing  marble  gate,  by 
which  the  grounds  are  entered,  is  the  ancient  Sublime 
Porte,  and  from  it  is  derived  the  title  by  which  the 
Turkish  government  is  often  referred  to  in  history 
and    diplomatic    discussions.      The    modern    Sublime 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK        93 

Porte  is  a  still  more  imposing  marble  gate  which  leads 
into  an  inclosure  where  are  situated  the  palace  of  the 
grand  vizier,  the  ministry  of  finance  and  other  official 
departments  of  the  government. 

Upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  situated  to 
Stamboul  as  Jersey  City  is  to  New  York,  is  Scutari,  a 
city  of  residences,  schools,  hospitals,  military  bar- 
racks, carpet  factories  and  other  manufacturing  estab- 
lishments, with  a  population  of  about  50,000.  It  is 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  fertile  hills,  which  in  the 
spring  and  summer  are  covered  with  brilliant  foliage. 

Upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  Golden  Horn  a  steep 
hill,  rising  directly  from  the  water,  is  occupied  by  the 
city  of  Galata,  corresponding  to  Brooklyn.  Its 
houses  and  shops  are  arranged  in  terraces  along  pre- 
cipitous slopes  to  a  height  of  five  hundred  feet;  and  on 
the  other  side  of  the  crest,  which  slopes  to  the  Golden 
Horn,  is  the  city  of  Pera,  which  means  "beyond"  — 
that   is,  the  place  beyond  the  hill. 

This  completes  the  group  of  four  cities,  which,  com- 
bined., are  called  Constantinople,  and  from  the  bridge 
which  connects  Stamboul  and  Galata,  or  at  any  other 
point  between,  they  are  spread  out  before  the  spectator 
like  an  audience  in  an  amphitheater,  rising  in  irregular 
terraces  and  showing  patches  of  whitewashed  walls 
among  unpainted,  wood-colored  houses,  shingled  roofs 
and  occasionally  a  roof  of  tile.  Here  and  there  appear 
squatty  domes  like  warts,  queer-looking  towers  and 
slender  minarets,  which  are  peculiar  to  Constantinople 
and  are  its  greatest  attraction.  The  domes  indicate 
mosques  and  occupy  the  summits  of  the  hills.  Their 
ugliness  heightens  the  beauty  and  grace  of  the  min- 
arets by  which  they  are  surrounded.  The  minarets 
take  the  place  of  church  steeples  and  the  campaniles 


94       The  TURK  ayid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

or  bell-towers  that  are  usually  attached  to  cathedrals 
in  southern  Europe.  They  look  very  slender  and  very 
tall,  rising  often  to  the  height  of  three  hundred  feet — 
delicate,  beautiful  shafts,  perhaps  twenty  feet  in  diam- 
eter at  the  bottom  and  gradually  tapering  to  a  needle 
point  at  the  top,  upon  which  a  golden  crescent  is  always 
placed.  About  the  center,  overlooking  the  roofs  of 
the  houses  and  the  adjoining  streets,  are  balconies, 
sometimes  only  one,  sometimes  two,  and,  on  the  taller 
minarets  three,  protected  by  beautifully  carved  balus- 
trades and  sustained  by  brackets,  from  which  the 
muezzin  calls  the  Mohammedans  to  prayer.  In  Con- 
stantinople most  of  the  minarets  are  of  marble  and 
other  stones,  as  they  were  built  by  rich  Sultans  as 
monuments  to  their  own  memory,  but  elsewhere  such 
structures  are  of  brick,  coated  with  stucco,  and  kept 
neatly  whitewashed.  Whatever  may  be  said  of  the 
Moslem,  his  houses  of  worship  always  show  evidences 
of  careful  and  constant  attention.  You  seldom  see  a 
slovenly  mosque  and  seldom  a  mosque  out  of  repair. 
They  set  an  example  to  other  religious  sects  in  this, 
as  in  several  other  matters. 

The  view  from  any  place  of  observation  will  com- 
prehend nearly  all  of  the  city  of  Constantinople 
except,  of  course,  those  portions  which  are  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  ridges.  I  do  not  know  of  any 
city  of  which  so  much  can  be  viewed  from  a  single 
point.  Standing  upon  the  bridge  that  crosses  the 
Golden  Horn,  one  can  easily  see  the  abodes  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  population  spread  out  before  him.  But 
the  view  is  monotonous.  There  is  a  lack  of  variety 
about  the  architecture  which  is  very  tiresome.  One 
house  differs  from  another  so  little  that  the  eye 
becomes   weary   and   rests   gratefully   upon   the    pic- 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK       95 

turesque  towers  and  the  beautiful  minarets  that  rise 
here  and  there  in  striking  relief.  Several. conspicuous 
buildings  stand  out  boldly.  These  are  the  embassies 
of  Russia,  Germany  and  other  European  Powers  on  the 
Galata  side  and  the  government  offices  in  Stamboul, 
The  largest  buildings,  and  those  which  are  most  con- 
spicuous in  every  direction,  are  occupied  as  barracks  by 
the  Sultan's  army.  There  are  no  parks,  no  promenades, 
no  amusements,  no  theaters  except  one  which  is  insig- 
nificant, and  no  entertainments  or  diversions  for  the 
people  except  a  few  low-class  vaudeville  performances. 

The  streets  are  irregular,  narrow  and  crooked  and 
wind  up  in  serpentine  or  zigzag  fashion  to  the  top  of 
the  town.  It  is  evident  that  they  originally  followed 
the  trails  of  goats,  which,  unlike  the  buffalo,  are  poor 
engineers.  The  straight  streets  are  so  steep  that  no 
load  can  be  hauled  up  them,  and  many  of  them  are 
actually  stairways,  with  small  shops  on  either  side.  In 
building  the  city  no  grading  was  done  and  no  filling. 
The  natural  topography  was  allowed  to  remain 
unaltered,  which,  while  it  adds  to  the  picturesque- 
ness,  is  a  permanent  embargo  on  business.  Horses 
cannot  be  used  for  transportation  purposes  because 
the  streets  are  too  narrow  and  too  steep  and  the  pave- 
ments are  too  rough. 

There  are  a  few  carts  and  a  good  many  donkeys 
with  panniers  upon  their  backs,  but  heavy  freight,  like 
lumber,  bales  of  merchandise  and  such  things  are 
carried  from  one  place  to  another  by  men.  It  is  a 
common  thing  to  see  eight,  twelve  or  sixteen  men 
with  long  poles  staggering  under  a  load  of  dry  goods, 
hardware,  iron  rails  or  timbers  for  the  construction  of 
houses.  They  can  carry  their  cargo  only  a  little  way 
without    stopping   to   rest,    and    as   long  as  they  are 


96      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

engaged,  block  the  entire  street.  No  carriage  can 
pass  them,  and  even  a  donkey  finds  it  difficult  to 
creep  by.  You  will  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  doing 
business  with  these  embarrassments,  and  will  not  be 
surprised  that  the  commerce  and  internal  trade  of 
Constantinople  is  less  than  that  of  the  average 
German  or  French  city  of  one-fourth  its  population. 
More  business  is  done  in  New  York  in  one  day  than  in 
Constantinople  during  the  entire  365. 

There  are  no  sidewalks  except  upon  a  few  of  the 
principal  streets,  and  they  are  very  narrow.  The 
houses  are  high — five,  six  and  seven  stories — without 
elevators,  and  are  divided  into  tenements,  the  ground 
floor  being  occupied  in  most  cases  for  business 
purposes.  The  architecture  is  indifferent  where  it  is 
not  ugly.  Most  of  the  city  is  built  of  wood,  unpainted, 
and  the  cheapest  kind  of  construction;  much  of  it 
being  in  an  advanced  state  of  dilapidation.  Some  of  the 
houses  in  the  principal  residence  quarter  remind  me 
of  those  on  the  West  Side  in  Chicago,  the  wooden 
fafades  being  covered  with  "ginger-bread  work," 
balconies,  loggias  and  other  architectural  frills.  In 
the  Turkish  quarter  there  is  even  less  of  architectural 
interest.  Only  occasionally  can  a  Moorish  design  be 
seen  or  any  building  of  the  oriental  type.  You  can 
follow  some  of  the  longest  streets  from  one  end  to  the 
other  without  finding  a  window  or  a  door  or  a  roof  or 
a  balcony  that  looks  like  what  you  expected  to  see  in 
Turkey.  When  the  lower  sash  of  the  window  is 
covered  with  fixed  lattice  work  you  may  know  that  it 
is  some  Turk's  harem.  The  houses  occupied  by 
Greeks,  Armenians,  Jews  and  Europeans  have  ordinary 
windows  and  no  blinds,  and  as  only  about  one-fourth 
of  the  population  of  Constantinople — the  estimates  are 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK       97 

generally  less— are  Turks,  and  three-fourths  are  for- 
eigners, you  should  not  expect  anything  but  what  you 
see,  and  must  swallow  your  disappointment. 

There  are  other  reasons,  in  addition  to  the  topog- 
raphy, why  the  houses  are  so  cheaply  and  indiffer- 
ently built.  All  foreigners  are  in  Constantinople  on 
sufferance  and  the  investment  of  money  is  unsafe. 
When  a  foreigner  erects  a  house  he  takes  great  risks 
and  naturally  does  not  wish  to  spend  any  more  upon  it 
than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Furthermore,  an  evi- 
dence of  prosperity  would  immediately  attract  the 
attention  of  the  officials,  who  are  all  Turks,  and  the 
assessment  for  taxation  would  at  once  be  raised.  The 
Turkish  officials  receive  little  if  any  compensation 
from  the  government,  and  are  obliged  to  turn  into  the 
treasury  for  the  use  of  the  Sultan  and  his  court  certain 
sums  of  money  annually.  This  money  and  whatever 
they  need  for  themselves  must  be  raised  by  whatever 
measures  they  can  manage,  and,  as  they  have  autocratic 
powers,  it  is  easy  for  them  to  make  good  their  quota. 
If  they  see  a  man,  particularly  an  Armenian  or  a  Jew 
— they  do  not  care  so  much  about  Greeks— showing 
signs  of  prosperity  and  wealth,  they  make  prepara- 
tions to  bleed  him,  and  the  methods  they  adopt  are 
usually  successful.  The  population  of  Stamboul 
around  the  Seraglio  is  mostly  Turkish,  and  beyond 
that  Armenian  and  Jewish.  The  inhabitants  of  Galata 
are  mostly  Greeks,  and  those  of  Pera  are  English^ 
French,  Germans  and  subjects  of  other  European 
Powers. 

Landing  at  Constantinople  is  an  exciting  experience. 
The  ships  anchor  out  in  the  stream,  and  passengers, 
with  their  luggage,  are  taken  ashore  in  rowboats.  No 
traveler  is  allowed  to  land  without  a  passport.     If  he 


98      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

is  a  resident  of  Turkey  he  must  have  a  permit  granted 
by  the  police  officials  of  the  town  in  which  he  lives. 
If  he  is  a  foreigner  his  passport  must  be  vised  by  the 
Turkish  consul  or  minister  at  the  port  of  his  departure. 

When  the  steamer  comes  to  anchor  the  gangplank  is 
at  once  surrounded  by  a  motley  crowd  of  boatmen, 
howling  like  a  lot  of  demons  and  grabbing  at  the 
luggage  of  the  passengers.  If  you  have  not  a  courier 
to  look  after  you  and'your  belongings  the  best  thing  is 
to  give  yourself  up  to  Cook,  the  traveler's  friend  and 
protector.  If  you  have  written  ahead  to  engage 
apartments  at  any  of  the  hotels  a  dragoman,  or  inter- 
preter, will  be  sent  down  to  meet  you  and  help  you 
through  the  custom-house,  but  Cook's  men  always 
come  aboard,  not  only  at  Constantinople  but  at  all  the 
eastern  ports,  and  arc  a  blessing  to  the  inexperienced. 

As  each  boatload  passes  towards  the  landing-place  it 
is  stopped  in  midstream  by  a  policeman  seated  in  the 
stern  of  a  Turkish  caique ^  or  canoe,  who  counts  the 
number  of  passengers  and  the  number  of  pieces  of 
baggage.  What  this  is  done  for  I  was  unable  to  dis- 
cover, but  the  most  reasonable  theory  is  that  it  is 
intended  as  a  checking  system  for  the  police,  in  order 
that  no  stranger  shall  enter  the  country  without  their 
knowledge. 

The  guidebooks,  which  are  closely  censored  by  the 
Turkish  government,  so  that  they  may  not  contain 
anything  offensive  or  treasonable  to  the  Sultan,  state 
very  plainly  that  couriers  and  dragomans  from  the 
hotels  can  "arrange"  with  the  customs  officers  so  that 
the  inspection  of  luggage  will  be  only  formal.  The 
only  thing  that  they  are  after  is  books.  Their  orders 
are  very  strict  in  that  respect.  They  are  positively 
forbidden  to  pass  any  books,  newspapers,  manuscripts 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK       99 

or  sealed  parcels,  all  of  which  must  be  submitted  to 
examination  by  the  censor,  who  destroys  all  works  per- 
taining to  the  Mussulman  religion,  the  personality  of 
the  Sultan,  the  foreign  relations  or  the  internal  affairs 
of  Turkey.  Guns,  revolvers  and  that  sort  of  thing, 
which  are  prohibited  in  most  countries,  are  admitted 
without  objection  in  Turkey.  We  were  advised  to 
conceal  all  our  guidebooks,  notebooks,  manuscripts 
and  that  sort  of  thing  in  the  bottom  of  our  trunks  in 
case  of  an  emergency,  although  our  dragoman,  or 
guide,  said  he  did  not  think  any  of  them  would  be 
opened.  When  they  were  landed  and  carried  into  the 
dilapidated  and  dirty  old  wooden  building  of  one  story 
used  for  a  custom-house,  all  the  trunks,  bags  and  rug 
rolls  were  arranged  in  a  row  upon  a  bench  and  the 
dragoman  proceeded  calmly  to  negotiate  with  the 
inspectors.  How  much  he  paid  to  pass  them  I  do  not 
know,  but  it  was  not  a  large  sum,  and  we  were  soon 
sent  on  our  way  rejoicing. 

The  baggage  of  passengers  leaving  Constantinople 
is  examined  quite  as  closely  as  that  which  comes  in, 
and  the  same  process  occurs.  The  customs  officers 
often  demand  larger  bribes  from  outgoing  than  incom- 
ing travelers,  and  will  threaten  to  detain  their  luggage 
if  the  money  is  not  paid. 

The  same  corruption  and  the  same  practices  exist  in 
other  branches  of  the  custom-house,  only  to  a  greater 
extent.  Imported  merchandise  is  seldom  inspected. 
Merchants  doing  business  in  Constantinople  usually 
have  a  regular  arrangement  with  the  customs  officials 
to  admit  their  goods  without  examination  upon  the 
payment  of  certain  sums,  which  cover  both  the  customs 
duties  and  the  bribes.  These  practices  must  be  known 
to  the  higher  officials,  because  nearly  all  of  them  have 


lOO    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

been  promoted  to  the  positions  they  occupy,  and  they 
require  a  certain  amount  of  revenue  from  each 
inspector  or  appraiser  every  month.  The  latter  must 
raise  it  the  best  way  he  can.  There  is  a  regular  tariff, 
of  course,  and  fixed  rates  of  duty  for  different  kinds  of 
merchandise,  but  it  is  seldom  observed,  even  in  the 
case  of  strangers. 

All  travelers  in  Turkey  must  have  tezkcrehs,  or 
traveling  permits,  which  are  granted  upon  the  applica- 
tion of  the  minister  or  consul  of  the  country  from 
which  they  come,  and  are  an  acknowledgment  on  the 
part  of  the  Ottoman  authorities  of  their  responsibility 
for  the  safety  of  the  bearer.  Natives  have  ordinary 
passports,  but  no  man  can  land  at  a  port  or  buy  a 
steamship  or  railway  ticket  without  showing  a  docu- 
ment of  this  kind,  which  not  only  is  a  protection  to 
the  traveler,  but  also  gives  the  police  authorities  an 
opportunity  to  watch  suspicious  persons. 

The  United  States  diplomatic  and  consular  officials 
in  Turkey  receive  almost  daily  applications  for  certifi- 
cates from  Armenians  who  claim  to  be  naturalized, 
but  there  has  been  so  much  fraudulent  naturalization 
that  they  no  longer  issue  them  unless  they  are  satisfied 
that  the  applicant  is  a  bona  fide  citizen  of  the  United 
States  stopping  temporarily  in  Turkey,  Certain 
Armenians  in  New  York,  San  Francisco  and  other 
cities  for  years  did  a  fraudulent  naturalization  business, 
and  for  large  fees  obtained  papers  for  Armenians  in 
Turkey  who  had  never  been  in  the  United  States.  It 
is  an  easy  thing  for  a  man  to  make  application  in  any 
of  the  courts  under  any  name,  and  again  make  a  second 
or  third  or  fourth  or  repeated  applications  under  other 
names  later  without  being  detected.  When  the  papers 
are  issued  they  are  forwarded  to  Turkey  to  the  persons 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK      loi 

whose  names  they  bear,  and  the  latter  use  them  when- 
ever necessary.  Not  long  ago  such  fraudulent  papers 
were  abundant  in  Turkey,  but  many  of  them  have  been 
taken  from  the  holders  and  retained  by  the  United 
States  ofificials.  When  a  man  claiming  to  be  a  natu- 
ralized citizen  of  New  York  cannot  tell  the  name  of 
the  street  upon  which  he  lives  and  does  not  know  the 
location  of  Brooklyn  or  Jersey  City;  who  never  heard 
of  Washington,  Grant,  McKinley  or  Roosevelt,  and 
cannot  give  the  name  of  the  long  street  which  runs 
from  one  end  of  New  York  to  the  other,  it  is  pretty 
certain  that  he  is  not  entitled  to  the  protection  of  our 
government,  but  has  abused  its  hospitality  by  obtain- 
ing naturalization  papers  under  false  pretenses. 

Constantinople  is  the  seat  of  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  the 
ecclesiastical  head  of  the  Moslem  faith,  and  also  the 
seat  of  the  Patriarchs  of  the  Greek  and  the  Armenian 
churches,  and  of  the  chief  rabbi  of  the  Jews.  Every 
other  religion  has  its  representatives  among  the  popu- 
lation, which  is  more  cosmopolitan  than  that  of  any 
other  city.  It  is  claimed  that  there  are  in  Constanti- 
nople representatives  of  every  nation  and  every  tribe 
upon  the  globe,  and  that  every  language  is  spoken. 
It  is  common  to  see  signs  written  in  eight  or  nine 
languages  on  the  fronts  of  the  retail  shops.  These 
races  and  religions  are  all  more  or  less  antagonistic. 
There  is  nothing  to  unite  them.  Each  suspects  the 
other  of  treachery.  They  have  no  relations,  except  in 
trade,  and  in  their  commercial  dealings  they  are  all 
trying  to  cheat  each  other. 

Everybody  lives  in  a  state  of  constant  apprehension, 
in  a  vague  dread  of  danger,  and  there  is  good  reason 
for  it,  because  the  hand  of  Ishmael  is  still  against  every 
man. 


102    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

No  census  has  ever  been  taken  of  Constantinople, 
and  the  population  is  unknown.  Estimates  range  all 
the  way  from  875,000  to  1,250,000,  and  the  latter  figure 
is  probably  somewhere  near  the  truth,  judging  from 
the  dense  manner  in  which  the  people  are  huddled 
together  and  the  enormous  area  covered  by  the  city. 
The  floating  population  is  very  large.  Thousands  of 
men  are  constantly  coming  and  going,  spending  a 
portion  of  each  season  in  the  city  and  the  remainder 
of  the  year  in  the  provinces  of  Turkey  or  in  some 
neighboring  state. 

According  to  religious  belief  the  population  is  sup- 
posed to  be  divided  somewhat  as  follows: 

Moslems 400,000 

Greeks     .         .  175.000 

Armenians 250,000 

Jews ,        .        .        .      75.000 

Bulgarians 6,000 

Greek  Catholics 1,200 

Roman  Catholics 7, 500 

Protestants 2,000 

Miscellaneous 150,000 

The  city  is  divided  into  ten  municipal  circles  or 
wards,  which,  combined,  constitute  a  vilayet,  whose 
affairs  are  directed  by  a  prcfct,  assisted  by  a  mcjlis,  or 
council,  and  a  large  staff  of  officials.  Each  municipal 
circle  has  a  director  and  is  subdivided  into  precincts 
which  are  governed  by  jmidirs.  The.  prcfct,  or  governor, 
is  a  despot,  responsible  to  no  one  but  the  Sultan  and 
exercising  absolute  and  unquestioned  authority  over 
the  lives  and  property  of  his  subjects.  Men  disappear 
and  their  property  is  confiscated  at  his  orders,  and  no 
questions  can  be  asked.  He  regulates  the  taxes, 
receives  the  funds  and  disposes  of  them  without  a 
question.     The   miidirs  and   other  subordinates   carry 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK      103 

out  his  instructions  and  trust  him  to  stand  between 
them  and  the  Sultan.  The  priests  and  monks  of  the 
Moslem  Church  must  be  taken  into  consideration 
always,  as  they  are  the  most  powerful  body  in  Con- 
stantinople, and  their  influence  over  the  people  is 
undisputed.  The  Sheik-ul-lslam,  the  head  of  the 
church,  stands  next  to  the  Sultan  in  power  and  author- 
ity and  the  prefct  and  mudirs  are  careful  never  to 
offend  him. 

The  Armenians  at  one  time  were  the  most  important 
part  of  the  business  community,  but  since  the  massacres 
in  1896,  when  at  least  5,000  of  that  sect  were  butchered 
and  their  property  looted  and  confiscated,  they  have 
been  exceedingly  cautious,  and  at  present  very  few  of 
the  250,000  Armenians  in  Constantinople  are  doing 
business  under  their  own  names.  Some  of  them  have 
gone  into  partnership  with  Turks,  paying  the  latter  a 
certain  percentage  of  the  profits  of  their  business  for 
protection  and  the  use  of  their  names.  Many  of  the 
old  shops  of  Armenian  merchants  now  have  Turkish 
signs  over  the  doors,  for  which  privilege,  however,  the 
owners  have  to  pay  a  heavy  blackmail.  Since  the 
massacres  every  Armenian  has  been  discharged  from 
the  employ  of  the  government  and  very  generally 
from  the  employment  of  private  Turks.  Before  1896 
and  as  far  back  as  anyone  can  remember,  Armenians 
held  the  most  important  subordinate  positions  under 
the  government  because  of  their  executive  ability, 
particularly  in  the  financial  department,  where  they 
are  very  strong;  but  now  the  vindictiveness  of  the  Turk 
against  them  is  so  violent  that  the  name  of  Armenia 
has  been  stricken  off  the  map  and  that  province  is 
known  as  Upper  Turkey.  The  custom-house  oflficers 
will  not  permit  the  importation  of  maps  bearing  the 


I04    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

name  Armenia.  If  any  such  are  found  they  are  con- 
fiscated and  burned,  and  every  book  containing  the 
name  Armenia  is  blotted  by  the  censor. 

The  Greeks,  who  are  next  in  numbers,  are  also  busi- 
ness men  and  r«ow  have  the  largest  share  of  the  mer- 
cantile trade  in  their  own  quarter  of  the  city.  Although 
Turkey  was  recently  at  war  with  Greece  and  the  rivalry 
between  the  two  countries  is  bitter,  there  is  no  hatred 
or  prejudice  against  them.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Jews.  Both  races  live  at  peace  with  their  Turkish 
neighbors,  and  are  allowed  to  worship  God  in  their  own 
way  without  interference,  and  are  never  compelled  to 
endure  such  persecutions  as  have  been  suffered  by  the 
Armenians  for  centuries.  The  explanation  of  this  is 
that  Greeks  and  Jews  never  meddle  in  politics,  while 
the  Armenians  are  continually  doing  so.  Furthermore, 
the  province  of  Armenia  has  been  in  a  state  of  discon- 
tent for  many  years,  and  its  inhabitants  are  constantly 
exciting  revolutions  against  their  oppressors — usually 
with  very  bad  judgment  and  no  possible  prospect  of 
success.  Palestine  is  just  as  much  a  Turkish  province 
as  Armenia,  but  its  inhabitants  submit  to  the  des- 
potism under  which  they  are  born,  while  the  Arme- 
nians will  not. 

Half  the  Greeks  and  Armenians  in  Turkey  have  lost 
their  own  languages  because  they  have  been  forbidden 
to  speak  them.  Without  practice  they  have  forgotten 
their  native  tongues.  The  Jews  have  been  more 
kindly  treated.  The  Armenians  are  compelled  to 
worship  in  secret.  Greek  churches  can  be  found  in 
every  part  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  as  public  as  the 
Mohammedan  mosques,  and  no  Jewish  synagogue  is 
ever  interfered  with  by  Moslem  mobs.  It  is  the 
Armenians  that  they  attack  exclusively. 


THE  CITY  OF  THE  GRAND  TURK      105 

The  ferry-boats  which  run  to  all  parts  of  the  Bospho- 
rus  are  very  much  like  those  on  the  Thames  in  London 
and  on  the  Seine  in  Paris.  They  have  time-tables, 
which  are  posted  in  convenient  places  and  published 
in  the  newspapers,  but  are  seldom  observed;  no  one 
knows  why,  except  that  it  is  the  nature  of  the  Turk. 
A  boat  which  is  advertised  to  start  at  nine  o'clock 
may  go  ten  minutes  before  or  twenty  minutes  after. 
The  guidebooks  warn  people  not  to  rely  upon  the 
published  announcements.  The  boats  to  Brussa,  a 
neighboring  town  much  frequented  by  tourists,  the 
guidebook  says,  leave  daily,  "some  time  between 
7  a.m.  and  8:30  p.m.,  according  to  circumstances."  In 
other  words,  their  movements  depend  upon  the  cargo, 
the  number  of  passengers  and  the  whim  of  the  captain. 

The  railway  management  is  very  much  the  same. 
While  I  was  in  Constantinople,  in  the  spring  of  1902,  a 
small  section  of  the  track  between  that  city  and 
Budapest  was  washed  away.  The  trains  going  west 
returned  to  Constantinople,  but  the  trains  coming  east 
from  Budapest  and  Vienna  were  not  notified  of  the 
obstruction  and  were  allowed  to  start  as  usual  and 
accumulated  at  the  washout,  where  there  were  no 
accommodations  for  the  passengers,  no  place  for  them 
to  eat  or  sleep.  When  the  cars  were  finally  sent  back 
to  Adrianople,  the  nearest  town,  the  passengers  were 
compelled  to  pay  full  fare  to  that  point.  The  mails 
for  several  days  were  allowed  to  accumulate  at  the 
washout  and  were  held  there  for  nearly  three  weeks, 
when  they  might  have  been  taken  back  a  few  miles  to 
Adrianople  and  sent  around  by  another  route,  via 
Bucharest,  but  no  one  seemed  to  have  thought  of  it, 
although  such  accidents  and  interruptions  of  traffic 
occur  every  year.     Passengers  by  the  Orient  express, 


io6    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

which  is  the  most  expensive  train  in  the  world,  were 
allowed  to  leave  Constantinople  and  were  carried  to 
the  washout.  Tickets  were  sold  to  London,  Paris, 
Berlin,  Vienna  and  other  distant  points  and  full  sleep- 
ing-car fare  was  collected  and  all  tickets  are  limited 
to  one  day — the  date  stamped  upon  them.  The  rail- 
way company  would  not  extend  them  or  refund  the 
money  or  give  rebates,  and  even  compelled  the  pas- 
sengers who  were  carried  to  the  blockade  to  pay,  not 
only  the  regular  fare,  but  what  is  termed  a  "speed 
supplement"  charged  upon  express  trains,  and  also 
the  full  sleeping-car  rates.  Those  who  attempted  to 
secure  a  rebate  or  the  return  of  their  money  were 
calmly  informed  that  it  was  not  the  practice  of  the 
railway  company  to  redeem  its  tickets,  and  persons 
who  started  for  London  and  other  places  by  the  first 
train  after  the  break  was  repaired  were  compelled  to 
buy  new  tickets  and  pay  again  the  regular  sleeping-car 
charge  and  the  "speed  supplement." 

A  gentleman  who  purchased  a  ticket  from  Vienna  to 
Constantinople  was  compelled  to  turn  back  at  Sofia, 
about  half  way  on  his  journey,  and  asked  the  railway 
oflficials  to  redeem  the  unused  portion.  They  refused 
to  do  so  on  the  ground  that  he  had  given  no  reason 
why  it  should  be  done.  He  replied  at  once  that  he 
had  been  met  by  a  telegram  stating  illness  in  his  family 
which  required  him  to  postpone  his  journey  and  return 
to  Vienna,  and  asked  that  the  money  he  had  paid  for 
the  ticket  be  refunded  or  the  time  limit  be  extended, 
so  that  he  could  use  it  at  some  future  date  The 
railway  oflficials  calmly  replied  that  they  did  not  con- 
sider the  reason  given  sufficient. 


VI 

SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE 

Experienced  travelers  have  often  asserted  that  the 
representatives  of  a  larger  number  of  races  and  more 
picturesque  costumes  can  be  seen  upon  the  bridges  of 
Constantinople  than  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  and 
those  who  have  watched  the  throngs  that  are  continu- 
ally passing  to  and  fro  on  foot,  on  horseback,  on 
donkeys,  in  carriages  and  in  sedan  chairs  are  inclined 
to  believe  the  assertion.  There  are  two  bridges  across 
the  Golden  Horn,  about  one  mile  apart.  Both  are 
pontoons,  strips  of  planks  laid  upon  iron  floats  or 
caissons,  and  were  intended  to  be  temporary.  The 
erection  of  a  permanent  bridge  across  the  Golden  Horn 
between  Stamboul,  the  principal  and  most  populous 
Mohammedan  quarter,  and  Galata,  where  the  foreign- 
ers live,  has  been  frequently  proposed  and  plans  have 
been  repeatedly  submitted,  but  no  engineer  or  bridge 
company  will  undertake  the  job  without  a  large  pay- 
ment in  advance,  and  there  is  never  any  money  in  the 
Sultan's  treasury.  Several  companies  have  been 
organized  to  construct  bridges,  but  have  never  been 
able  to  obtain  permission,  and  a  multitude  of  pro- 
moters have  sought  concessions  for  that  purpose  from 
time  to  time,  but  there  is  no  sign  of  a  permanent 
bridge.  The  old  floats  still  remain  and  answer  every 
purpose,  not  only  being  a  means  of  communication  for 
a  million  people,  but  landing  places  for  ferry  boats, 
pleasure  steamers,  private  yachts  and  other  small  craft 
upon  the  Bosphorus.    The  caissons  are  immense  rectan- 

107 


io8    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

gular  casks  of  iron  sixty  by  thirty  by  twenty  feet  in 
size.  They  are  chained  together,  with  passages 
between  so  as  to  give  free  flow  to  the  water.  About 
the  middle  of  the  channel  there  is  an  arrangement  by 
which  two  of  the  floats  can  be  detached  and  brought 
around  out  of  the  way  so  as  to  allow  the  passage  of 
vessels,  but  this  always  was  a  very  slow  process  and 
interrupted  traffic  for  half  an  hour  or  more.  Hence  a 
regular  time  is  appointed  for  the  passage  of  vessels, 
and  from  four  to  six  o'clock  every  morning  the  gate- 
way is  opened,  and  those  who  do  not  avail  themselves 
of  that  opportunity  have  to  wait  twenty-four  hours. 
Upon  the  caissons  a  frame  of  timbers  sixty  feet  wide 
has  been  laid  and  planked  over.  Sidewalks  for  foot 
passengers  are  reserved,  but  pedestrians  take  the 
roadway  quite  as  often,  and  from  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning  until  nearly  midnight  the  bridge  is  thronged 
by  two  endless  streams  of  humanity  passing  both  ways. 
At  either  entrance  are  groups  of  toll  collectors  wearing 
long  white  tunics  to  distinguish  them  from  the  rest  of 
the  public,  and  they  hold  out  their  hands  to  receive 
the  coppers  from  people  who  walk  and  people  who 
ride.  Everybody  has  to  pay  except  the  high  officials 
of  the  government — usually  great,  fat  pashas,  who  are 
identified  by  the  livery  of  their  coachmen.  The  toll  is 
about  one  cent  for  foot  passengers,  two  cents  for 
mounted  persons  and  ten  cents  for  carriages. 

It  would  take  many  pages  to  describe  the  different 
classes  of  people  that  maybe  seen  upon  this  wonderful 
bridge,  and  the  catalogue  would  contain  representa- 
tives of  every  race  and  religion  under  the  sun.  Their 
costumes  afford  a  very  interesting  study.  Those  who 
are  familiar  with  the  oriental  races  can  identify  them 
readily   and  tell  you  where  every  man  comes    from. 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  109 

Many  of  the  women  are  veiled,  with  long  mantles  and 
black  shawls  over  their  heads.     Some  of  them  wear  a 
sort  of  mackintosh  belted  in,  altogether  unlovely  and 
ungraceful,  which  is  the  intention.    The  idea  of  wearing 
a  veil  is  to  make  a  woman  as  hideous  as  possible,  and 
the  Turk  succeeds  in  that  purpose,  if  in  no  other.    The 
ladies  who  are  not  veiled  are  either  Greeks,  Armenians, 
Jewesses  or  other  foreigners.     All  the  women  of  Con- 
stantinople, except  Turkish  women,  wear  European  gar- 
ments and  ordinary  hats.     Turkish  women  of  position 
always  ride  attended  by  a  eunuch  or  a  mounted  escort, 
because  it  is  not  proper  for  them  to  appear  alone  in  a 
public  place,  even  if  they  are  veiled,  and  the  etiquette 
of  the  country  forbids  men  to  accost  veiled  women. 
If  such  a  thing  should  be  noticed  there  would  be  a 
mob  in  an  instant,  for  every  Moslem  in  sight  would 
consider  it  an  insult  to  his  mother,  his  wife  and  his 
sister — in  fact  to  all  their  sex.      Few  men  dare  assist  a 
veiled  woman  even  if  she  should  stumble,  or  even  pick 
up  a  package  if  she  should  drop   one,    for   fear    his 
courtesy  should  be    misconstrued.     The    first    caution 
offered  to  strangers  in  Constantinople  concerns   this 
matter  of  national   etiquette,    and   it   is   often    wisely 
bestowed.     To   take    no    notice    whatever    of    veiled 
women  is  the  safest  thing  a  stranger  in  Constantinople 
can   do.     Women    who   do    not    wear    veils    are    not 
included  in  the  category,  for  they  are  not  Mohamme- 
dans   and    may   be   treated   with    ordinary    courtesy. 
Some  of  the  Armenian  women  are  beautiful  and  are 
richly  dressed.      The  Greek  women  have  dark  eyes, 
thin   lips,   and  dress  with   Parisian  taste.      In   certain 
parts  of  Constantinople  very  few  veiled  women  are  to 
be  seen.     On  the  Grand   Rue  de  Pera,   the  principal 
shopping-place  of  the  European  quarter,   where  most 


no    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

of  the  tradesmen  are  French  and  German,  they  seldom 
appear. 

Each  side  of  the  bridge  is  lined  with  peddlers,  selling 
all  sorts  of  things  and  crying  their  wares  in  stentorian 
tones,  and  beggars  who  crouch  under  the  railing,  hold- 
ing out  their  hands  in  a  piteous  manner  and  appealing 
for  baksheesh.  The  priests  of  the  Mohammedan  Church 
wear  white  wrappings  around  their  fezzes  as  a  badge  of 
their  profession.  Persians  wear  black  fezzes,  often 
made  of  lamb's  wool  or  astrakhan,  while  the  other 
races  have  different  head-dresses.  The  Greeks  wear 
stiffly  starched  white  petticoats  of  cotton  about  the 
length  of  the  skirts  of  a  ballet-dancer,  with  white 
leggings,  embroidered  vests  and  jackets  with  long, 
flowing  sleeves.  The  dervishes  wear  long  black 
caftans  or  cloaks,  which  reach  to  their  heels  like  the 
frock  of  a  Catholic  priest.  You  see  all  sorts  of  priests. 
They  seem  to  number  next  to  the  soldiers,  who  consti- 
tute almost  one-half  of  the  passengers  to  be  seen  upon 
the  bridge. 

Many  of  the  carriages  and  the  horses  are  fine, 
although  not  equal  to  those  to  be  seen  in  St.  Peters- 
burg. The  mounted  officers  dash  through  the  crowd 
in  the  most  reckless  manner,  without  regard  to  the 
lame  or  the  lazy,  and  the  donkey  drivers  do  not  seem 
to  care  whether  they  run  over  people  or  not,  although 
they  are  extremely  careful  not  to  injure  the  mangy 
mongrels  that  lie  around  on  the  bridge,  as  they  do 
everywhere  else.  Upon  the  bridge  can  be  bought, 
from  peddlers  almost  anything  a  human  being  can 
want,  because  they  are  constantly  passing  back  and 
forth,  offering  their  wares.  The  number  of  peddlers  in 
Constantinople  is  estimated  at  75,000. 

The  water-front  of  Constantinople,  instead  of  being 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  in 

devoted  to  docks,  warehouses  and  other  facilities  for 
shipping  and  commerce,  is  occupied  by  the  palaces  of 
the  Sultan  and  the  pashas.  There  is  one  short  quay 
reserved  for  the  landing  and  embarkation  of  goods, 
not  larger  than  a  single  pier  in  New  York  harbor,  or 
the  space  between  two  of  the  bridges  over  the  Chicago 
River,  and  every  article  of  merchandise  that  is  brought 
into  Constantinople  or  is  shipped'  out  of  the  city, 
including  the  luggage  of  passengers,  must  be  handled 
in  that  narrow  space.  A  little  narrow-gauge  man- 
power railway  track  runs  along  the  edge  of  the  water 
and  terminates  at  the  custom-house,  through  which  all 
goods  must  pass.  There  are  no  bonded  warehouses, 
and  imported  merchandise  must  be  taken  out  at  once 
upon  arrival  and  the  duty  paid. 

Upon  the  graves  of  the  dead  in  the  Turkish  ceme- 
teries little  vessels  of  water  are  placed  for  the  benefit 
of  the  birds,  and  some  of  the  marble  tombs  have  basins 
chiseled  out  for  the  same  purpose,  the  superstition 
being  that  birds  carry  messages  about  the  living  to  the 
dead,  and,  like  everybody  else  in  Turkey,  are  sus- 
pected of  being  spiteful  unless  something  is  done  to 
win  their  favor. 

Upon  entering  a  Mohammedan  mosque  the  hat  is 
kept  on,  but  the  shoes  must  be  taken  off,  for  "the  spot 
on  which  thou  standest  is  holy  ground."  Hence  the 
Turks  have  their  boots  made  with  double  bottoms.  A 
sort  of  slip  like  the  new-fashioned  rubber  sandals  fits 
over  the  toe  as  far  as  the  instep  and  the  sole  of  the 
shoe  and  is  held  on  by  a  band  passing  around  the  heel. 
A  little  brass  point  projects  at  the  heel,  which  is  con- 
venient in  kicking  them  off. 

The  Turks  use  beads  for  conversational  purposes  as 
well  as  to  count  their  prayers.     The  ordinary  ritual  of 


112    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  Mohammedan  faith  requires  thirty-six  prayers  and 
sixteen  quotations  from  the  Koran,  and  the  full  ritual 
embraces  ninety-nine  prayers.  If  a  mistake  is  made  it 
is  necessary  for  the  worshiper  to  begin  at  the  beginning 
and  go  over  the  whole  list  again.  Hence  he  is  very 
careful  to  check  off  each  prayer  that  he  utters  and 
each  quotation  that  he  repeats.  Most  of  the  prayers 
are  very  short,  however,  and  consist  of  the  same 
meaning  expressed  in  different  phrases:  "Allah  is 
great.  I  testify  that  there  is  no  God  but  Allah,  and 
Mohammed  is  his  prophet." 

At  several  points  in  Constantinople  saddle-horses  as 
well  as  carriages  are  kept  for  hire,  and  they  are  much 
more  convenient  for  certain  parts  of  the  city,  where 
the  streets  are  narrow  and  the  grades  are  steep.  The 
owner  or  the  man  in  charge  sends  a  boy  along  to  bring 
the  horse  back. 

The  number  of  people  who  speak  English  is  quite 
remarkable,  but  all  orientals  are  great  linguists.  They 
seem  to  have  a  faculty  for  picking  up  languages  that  is 
not  enjoyed  by  Anglo-Saxons. 

Turkish  rugs  are  sold  by  the  bale  as  they  enter  the 
custom-house,  and  the  purchaser  has  no  opportunity  to 
examine  them.  He  must  take  them  as  they  come — good, 
bad  and  indifferent,  old  and  new,  coarse  and  fine,  per- 
fect and  ragged.  The  week' s  arrivals  are  usually  put  up 
at  auction  on  Monday  morning.  The  greatest  number 
of  rugs  comes  from  the  interior  of  Asia  and  is  brought 
down  to  the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Black  Sea 
by  caravans  of  camels  and  shipped  to  Smyrna  and 
Constantinople,  which  are  the  great  markets.  They 
are  packed  so  many  to  the  bale  by  sizes,  and  if  the 
purchaser  knows  the  name  of  the  seller  and  the  place 
from  which   they  have  been   shipped,   it   gives   him  a 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  113 

slight  basis  upon  which  he  can  estimate  their  value; 
but  it  is  always  more  or  less  of  a  lottery  and  hence  the 
rugs  bring  much  less  than  their  actual  worth.  The 
sellers  might  make  a  great  deal  more  money  if  they 
were  not  bound  by  this  ancient  custom. 

The  dogs  and  the  firemen  of  Constantinople  are 
famous,  and  always  excite  a  great  deal  of  interest 
among  tourists.  There  are  two  popular  errors  regard- 
ing the  dogs — that  they  are  ferocious  and  dangerous, 
and  that  they  are  the  city  scavengers  and  have  a 
contract  for  cleaning  the  streets,  which  last  is  equally 
false.  The  dogs  are  wretched,  harmless,  cowardly 
curs,  which  never  bite  unless  abused  or  driven  into  a 
corner,  and  then  only  in  self-defense.  They  bark  con- 
tinually, however,  particularly  in  the  night,  and  new- 
comers will  be  disturbed  in  their  rest  for  two  or  three 
nights  until  they  become  accustomed  to  them.  In  this 
respect,  as  in  several  others,  they  are  great  nuisances. 

So  far  as  street  cleaning  is  concerned  they  undoubt- 
edly contribute  more  filth  and  unhealthiness  because 
their  v/ork  as  scavengers  is  limited  to  rooting  and 
scratching  around  for  morsels  of  food  in  the  offal  and 
other  debris,  and  thus  they  keep  it  stirred  up  when 
it  would  be  less  offensive  if  it  were  let  alone.  In 
that  offal  the  dogs  find  their  subsistence,  and  they 
number  tens  of  thousands.  Thus  their  existence  is 
precarious.  Each  street  has  its  own  band,  which  is 
very  jealous  of  intruders,  and  when  you  hear  a  tumul- 
tuous barking  you  may  be  sure  that  some  stranger  has 
strayed  into  a  section  where  he  does  not  belong  and  is 
being  evicted.  The  dogs  are  ownerless.  There  may 
be  a  few  high-bred  animals  kept  in  the  houses  by 
private  owners,  but  the  great  mass  of  them  have  no 
home  but  the  street  and   no  owners  but  the  public. 


114    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

They  are  allowed  to  live  for  superstitious  reasons. 
The  Moslem  inhabitants  look  upon  them  as  a  religious 
institution,  as  the  proteges  of  the  prophet,  and  while 
they  do  not  give  them  any  care  they  would  not  injure 
them  under  any  circumstances  for  fear  of  bringing  mis- 
fortune upon  themselves.  A  Mohammedan  hackman 
or  cartman  would  sooner  drive  around  the  block  than 
run  over  a  dog.  He  will  get  down  from  his  box  and 
wake  up  a  cur  that  lies  sleeping  in  the  middle  of  the 
street  rather  than  drive  over  it,  but  usually  flicks  his 
whip  gently  to  remind  it  that  it  is  in  the  way.  The 
animal,  being  awakened,  yawns  and  stretches  itself  in 
an  indifferent  manner  and  then  slowly  moves  towards 
the  sidewalk.  The  children  are  taught  to  be  merciful 
to  them  and  to  believe  that  they  are  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  prophet. 

The  butchers  throw  their  scraps  into  the  street  every 
morning  at  a  certain  hour,  and  the  dogs  that  belong  in 
that  locality  are  always  on  hand  to  snatch  their  share 
of  the  morsels.  Bakers  cut  up  stale  loaves  and  toss 
them  out  in  a  similar  way.  Hotel  and  boarding-house 
keepers  are  equally  thoughtful  in  putting  out  their 
garbage  cans,  but  nobody  ever  offers  the  dogs  shelter  or 
attempts  to  cure  them  of  the  mange,  with  which  the 
majority  are  afflicted.  Many  of  them  are  repulsive 
sights.  They  live  entirely  upon  the  streets,  each  dog 
having  some  shelter  of  its  own  during  the  storms  of 
winter,  where  it  leaves  its  litters  of  puppies  until 
they  are  old  enough  to  look  out  for  themselves.  When 
they  die  their  bodies  are  left  lying  in  the  road  or  are 
kicked  out  of  the  way  by  pedestrians.  They  are 
mostly  yellow,  coarse-haired,  wolfish-looking  beasts, 
with  long  tails  and  pointed  ears.  The  guides  say  that 
the  number  is  diminishing  because  the  waste  places  in 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  115 

which  they  formerly  basked  and  bred  are  being  rap- 
idly built  over;  but  other  authorities  claim  that  this  is 
a  mistake  and  that  the  number  is  increasing.  A 
stranger  would  assume  that  the  latter  is  the  case, 
because  they  seem  so  numerous  and  occupy  so  large  a 
part  of  the  narrow  sidewalks  and  streets.  It  is  not  safe 
to  kick  them  out  of  the  way  because  you  would  be  sure 
to  disturb  a  colony  of  fleas  which  might  take  refuge 
upon  your  own  person,  even  if  the  cur  did  not  turn 
and  snap  at  you.  Old  residents  will  tell  you  that  it  is 
not  good  policy  to  kick  a  dog,  because  some  Moslem 
might  see  the  act  and  resent  it.  The  natives  are  so 
accustomed  to  their  presence  in  the  streets  and  to  their 
nocturnal  barking  and  howling  that  they  take  them  as 
a  matter  of  course,  like  the  other  nuisances  of  the  city. 

The  animals  have  a  high  degree  of  intelligence. 
They  know  their  rights  and  insist  upon  them,  and  the 
manner  in  which  each  cur  holds  and  defends  his  own 
territory  is  remarkable.  The  occupants  of  the  same 
street  never  quarrel  with  each  other,  no  matter  how 
numerous  or  how  hungry  they  may  be,  but  lie  curled 
up  in  bunches  on  the  street  corners  in  a  most  affection- 
ate manner.  But  let  a  strange  animal  appear  in  sight 
and  every  one  is  on  the  alert  instantly.  There  is  a 
scurrying  of  feet,  a  series  of  low  growls,  a  rush  towards 
the  intruder  and  then  a  tumult  of  barking  and  yelping 
and  shrieks  of  agony  from  the  injured.  It  may  end  in 
a  dogicide.  It  usually  does.  The  intruder  is  not  often 
allowed  to  escape  alive  and  his  mangled  body  will  be 
found  afterwards  in  the  roadway. 

Abdul  Azziz,  predecessor  of  the  present  Sultan,  was 
a  great  reformer  and,  among  other  reforms,  proposed 
to  exterminate  the  dogs.  Policemen  were  sent  around 
with    poisoned    meat,    which    was     scattered     freely 


Ii6     The  TURK  atid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

throughout  the  city,  and  the  next  day  the  streets  were 
blocked  by  dead  dogs,  which  were  not  removed,  but 
their  bodies  were  allowed  to  lie  and  fester  in  the  sun. 
Instead  of  attributing  the  epidemic  to  the  unquestion- 
able cause,  the  superstitious  Turks  construed  it  as  the 
penalty  pronounced  upon  them  by  the  prophet  for  the 
massacre  of  the  innocent.  Since  then  no  further 
attempts  have  been  made  to  exterminate  the  curs, 
which  have  been  held  more  sacred  than  ever.  There 
is  a  story  to  account  for  the  presence  of  the  dogs  in 
Constantinople.  It  is  said  that  in  the  Middle  Ages 
their  barking  awoke  the  garrison  of  the  city  and 
warned  it  of  the  approach  of  an  enemy,  so  that  it  was 
able  to  make  a  successful  defense.  At  that  time,  the 
legend  goes,  the  reigning  Sultan  issued  an  order 
requiring  all  dogs  to  be  held  sacred,  as  the  prophet 
had  made  them,  the  vehicle  of  the  Divine  will. 

Sometimes  I  think  the  firemen  are  more  interesting 
than  the  dogs.  Fires  are  of  frequent  occurrence,  and 
often  very  destructive,  because  the  greater  part  of  the 
old  city  is  composed  of  wooden  dwellings,  which  are 
very  dry  and  burn  like  tinder  when  a  flame  is  once 
started.  Great  precautions,  from  the  Turkish  point  of 
view,  are  taken  to  protect  them,  but  they  are  only 
ludicrous  to  those  who  are  familiar  with  modern  fire 
departments  in  our  cities.  Watchmen  keep  a  lookout 
day  and  night  from  three  commanding  spots  which 
overlook  the  roofs  of  the  entire  city — the  Galata  tower 
in  the  foreign  section,  the  Serasker  tower  in  Stamboul, 
the  Mohammedan  city,  and  another  tower  upon  a 
high  hill  on  the  Asiatic  side  of  the  Bosphorus.  Cannon 
are  fired  from  the  last-mentioned  place  as  a  warning  to 
the  public  and  a  notice  to  the  firemen,  but  at  the  other 
towers    large  balls    made  of   bamboo   and    painted    a 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  117 

brilliant  red  are  hung  out  in  the  daytime,  and  a  red  bal- 
loon at  night  with  a  number  of  flags  of  different 
designs,  like  signals  from  a  ship,  which  indicate  to  the 
firemen  the  section  of  the  city  in  which  their  services 
are  needed. 

Upon  these  towers  watchmen  with  telescopes  are 
always  on  guard,  walking  around  the  balcony  and 
carefully  inspecting  every  roof  within  the  limits  of 
their  vision.  When  a  suspicious  sign  is  discovered 
there  is  a  consultation,  and,  if  it  appears  to  be  a  fire, 
half-naked  runners  are  started  to  give  an  alarm 
through  the  streets  and  the  signals  are  hung  out.  The 
runners  yell  at  the  top  of  their  voices  the  locality 
where  the  fire  has  been  discovered.  The  firemen,  who 
are  in  waiting  at  their  various  headquarters,  strip 
themselves  to  a  shirt  and  a  pair  of  drawers,  seize  hand 
engines,  which  are  carried  upon  their  shoulders,  and 
start  at  full  tilt  for  the  point  of  danger.  They  are 
spurred  to  a  high  rate  of  speed  because  of  rivalry 
between  the  different  organizations.  The  first  to 
arrive  is  apt  to  get  the  job  of  extinguishing  the  confla- 
gration, but  as  they  receive  no  pay  from  the  govern- 
ment, the  owner  of  the  house  must  bargain  with  them 
and  make  the  best  terms  possible  before  they  will  do 
anything  to  save  his  house.  Usually  the  neighbors, 
whose  property  is  also  in  danger,  are  required  to  con- 
tribute baksheesh  before  the  pumping  begins. 

The  engine  is  a  small  affair,  which  can  easily  be 
carried  upon  the  shoulders  of  four  men  running  at  a 
high  rate  of  speed.  Others  carry  the  hose,  while  the 
nozzle  is  handled  like  the  baton  of  a  drum-major  by 
the  captain  of  the  company,  who  leads  the  group  of 
runners  through  the  streets  crying  "Yafigifi  var!"  in 
brazen  tones.      A  company  on  its  way  to    a  fire  is  a 


ii8    The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

novel  sight,  and  everybody  rushes  out  to  join  in  the 
excitement.  When  the  scene  is  reached  the  confusion 
is  even  greater.  Men,  women  and  children  plunge 
into  the  burning  building  to  seize  and  save  or  steal 
whatever  can  be  reached.  The  police  usually  stand 
by  and  watch  the  spectacle  with  admirable  composure. 
They  never  think  of  interfering,  because  their  religion 
teaches  them  that  misfortunes  of  all  kinds  are  penalties 
imposed  by  the  prophet  to  punish  sins,  and  hence  the 
houses  of  none  but  wicked  people  ever  catch  fire. 

Pigeons  are  sacred  in  Constantinople.  No  true 
Moslem  will  kill  a  pigeon,  and  in  certain  parts  of  the 
city  they  are  found  by  the  millions.  One  of  the  most 
sacred  temples  is  called  the  Pigeon  Mosque,  because  of 
the  number  of  birds  that  live  there.  They  are  so 
numerous  that  the  air  is  often  dark  with  them.  Rich 
people  leave  legacies  to  pay  for  their  food.  At  all  of 
the  mosques  peddlers  are  found  who  sell  corn  for  the 
faithful  to  offer  to  the  birds,  and  it  is  regarded  as  a 
religious  sacrifice.  The  superstition  against  killing 
pigeons  is  based  upon  the  belief  that  the  Holy  Ghost 
inhabits  the  body  of  a  pigeon,  and  none  can  be  put  to 
death  without  a  fear  of  sacrificing  the  right  one.  The 
pigeons  at  the  Bayezidiyeh,  or  Pigeon  Mosque,  which 
was  built  in  1497  by  Sultan  Bayezid,  are  said  to  be  the 
offspring  of  a  pair  bought  by  him  from  a  poor  woman 
in  the  market  near  by  and  presented  to  the  priests  of 
the  mosque.  These  pigeons  are  under  the  special  pro- 
tection of  several  priests,  who  feed  them  regularly,  and 
every  Friday  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  distribute 
food  to  the  dogs  that  live  in  that  quarter.  The  scene 
is  very  noisy  and  exciting.  The  dogs  know  the  dates 
and  appear  promptly  upon  the  appointed  morning 
every  week,  but  woe  to  the  stranger  cur  that  attempts 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  119 

to  sneak  in  for  a  share.  He  is  disposed  of  without 
mercy,  for  the  legitimate  tenants  of  the  district  know 
each  other  as  accurately  as  if  each  had  been  furnished 
with  a  copy  of  a  census.  This  food  is  distributed  in 
obedience  to  a  legacy  left  by  a  Turkish  tailor,  who  died 
sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  with  a  provision  in  his  will 
for  feeding  the  dogs  on  Friday,  which  is  the  Moham- 
medan Sabbath.  Beggars,  hungry,  ragged  and  dis- 
eased, often  appear  when  the  dogs  are  fed  and  try  to 
snatch  morsels  of  meat  from  them  if  possible,  but  it 
takes  a  great  deal  of  courage  to  do  so.  The  uproar  is 
tremendous.  For  half  a  mile  around  the  barking  and 
yelping  can  be  heard,  but  the  inhabitants  of  the 
neighborhood  are  accustomed  to  it. 

At  the  mosque  of  St.  Andrew,  Constantinople,  which 
is  in  charge  of  the  dervishes,  hangs  an  iron  chain  which 
is  said  to  have  the  power  of  detecting  deceit  and  dis- 
honesty, and  believers  who  are  accused  of  theft  or 
falsehood  often  demand  the  right  to  be  tried  by  that 
test,  which  is  usually  accorded  them.  If  they  are 
guilty  it  is  indicated  by  the  vibration  of  the  iron.  If 
they  are  innocent  the  chain  remains  at  rest.  A  curious 
story  is  told  of  a  Jewish  debtor  who  falsely  claimed  to 
have  paid  his  obligations  and  demanded  to  be  tried  by 
the  chain.  Before  taking  his  station  he  asked  his 
creditor  to  hold  his  cane,  and  handed  him  a  hollow 
staff,  in  which  was  concealed  the  exact  amount  of 
money  that  he  owed  him.  The  chain,  recognizing  that 
the  money  had  been  passed,  declared  him  innocent — 
which  showed  that  it  is  influenced  by  technicalities  like 
many  other  courts. 

There  are  in  Constantinople  one  hundred  and  eighty 
khans — immense  stone  barracks  of  two  stories  covering 
entire  blocks  and  inclosing  square  courts   which   are 


I20    T/ie  TVRK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

usually  ornamented  with  trees  and  fountains.  These 
khans  are  all  very  ancient,  the  oldest  having  been 
erected  in  the  time  of  Constantine  and  still  being  used. 
They  are  intended  for  the  entertainment  and  accom- 
modation of  traveling  merchants,  who  are  provided  by 
the  government  with  lodging  and  sample-rooms  in 
which  to  display  their  wares.  Each  khan  is  in  charge 
of  a  steward,  who  is  the  master  of  everything  under  its 
roof,  the  representative  of  the  Sultan  and  the  govern- 
ment, and  the  superintendent  of  a  gang  of  workmen 
who  are  employed  about  the  place.  A  merchant  from 
Persia,  Russia,  Turkestan  or  any  other  part  of  the  earth, 
having  goods  for  sale,  may  apply  to  the  steward,  and,  if 
an  apartment  is  vacant,  is  furnished  with  one  or  more 
rooms  in  which  he  can  sleep  and  live  and  receive  his 
customers  for  a  certain  length  of  time  without  paying 
rent.  If  there  is  no  demand  for  quarters  he  may  retain 
the  rooms  indefinitely.  Attached  to  each  khan  are 
restaurants  and  eating-houses  at  which  the  occupants 
may  live,  but  many  of  them  prefer  to  cook  their  own 
meals.  Some  bring  servants  with  them.  The  khans 
are  the  scenes  of  constant  bustle,  dealers  in  all  kinds 
of  merchandise  continually  passing  in  and  out,  and 
although  most  of  them  are  dark,  damp  and  uncomfort- 
able, they  have  contributed  a  great  deal  to  the  com- 
mercial importance  and  activity  of  the  city.  Men 
from  the  country  who  are  in  the  habit  of  trading  in 
Constantinople  always  go  to  the  same  khan,  where 
they  arc  known  and  expected,  just  as  we  have  our 
favorite  hotels  in  the  cities  we  are  accustomed  to  visit. 
But  the  khans  are  open  to  all  merchants,  of  whatever 
quality,  condition,  country  or  religion. 

The  tradesmen  and  artisans  of  Constantinople  still 
maintain  guilds,  which  prevailed  elsewhere  throughout 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE         121 

Europe  for  centuries  until  modern  methods  of  com- 
merce and  industry  caused  them  to  dissolve  by  making 
them  unnecessary.  The  primitive  condition  of  affairs 
in  Constantinople,  however,  makes  them  of  supreme 
importance,  and  they  are  maintained  with  the  greatest 
energy  and  exactness.  There  were  formerly  about  six 
hundred  different  guilds,  but  by  consolidation  the 
number  has  been  reduced  to  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five,  which  are  registered  at  the  office  of  the  minister 
of  the  interior  and  represent  a  membership  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand.  They  are  managed  very  much  like  the 
trades  unions  of  the  United  States,  and  no  artisan, 
mechanic  or  skilled  workman  can  obtain  employment 
in  Constantinople  without  carrying  a  card  of  member- 
ship in  some  guild.  The  workmen  are  graded  accord- 
ing to  their  ability  and  accomplishments,  an  idea  which 
it  seems  to  me  could  be  adopted  with  advantage  by  the 
labor  unions  of  the  United  States,  which  recognize  no 
difference  between  skill  and  incompetence,  and  demand 
the  same  wages  for  every  man  regardless  of  his  power 
of  production. 

The  Turkish  guilds  are  governed  by  a  president  and 
council,  and  their  funds  are  derived  from  the  revenues 
of  property  owned  and  fixed  contributions,  which  are 
chiefly  expended  in  charity,  in  assistance  to  sick 
brethren  and  to  the  widows  and  orphans  of  deceased 
members.  The  discipline  is  good,  the  organizations 
are  thorough  and  extensive,  and  the  public  have  long 
since  adapted  themselves  to  their  conditions.  The 
butchers'  guild  is  said  to  be  the  richest,  and  owns 
several  million  dollars'  worth  of  property;  the  bakers 
and  carpenters  are  the  most  numerous.  The  subdi- 
vision of  trades  is  amusing.  There  is  a  guild  of  the 
makers  of  straw-seated  stools,   who  at  some  time  or 


122    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

another  seceded  from  the  guild  of  the  makers  of 
straw-seated  chairs  and  organized  independently. 
There  is  one  guild  for  barbers  who  have  shops,  and  a 
separate  guild  for  barbers  who  go  out  to  serve  custom- 
ers at  their  homes  or  places  of  business  and  work  upon 
the  public  streets.  These  are  the  most  numerous  of  the 
barber  guilds,  because  it  is  the  fashion  for  men  to  be 
shaved  at  their  coffee-houses  or  their  homes  or  offices, 
and  itinerant  barbers  go  about  like  bootblacks  in  our 
cities.  Each  guild  has  a  patron,  usually  some  notable 
scriptural  patriarch,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain how  this  happens.  Adam  is  the  patron  of  the 
bakers;  Eve  of  the  women  who  work  in  the  Turkish 
baths;  Abel  is  the  patron  of  the  shepherds;  Cain  of 
the  grave-diggers;  Enoch  of  the  inkstand-makers; 
Noah  of  the  shipwrights,  which  is  perfectly  natural 
and  proper,  and  Elijah  of  the  tailors  who  make  fur 
coats. 

The  most  interesting  places  in  Constantinople  are 
the  bazaars  of  Stamboul,  and  they  are  peculiarly 
Turkish.  They  cover  entire  blocks,  divided  up  into 
sections  by  narrow  streets  or  corridors,  vaulted  over  so 
as  to  protect  from  the  weather  the  little  booths  or 
shops  which  line  them  on  both  sides.  These  shops 
consist  of  a  single  room,  perhaps  fifteen  by  twenty 
feet  in  size,  seldom  larger,  without  windows  or  doors. 
At  night  the  front  is  closed  with  heavy  wooden 
shutters  held  by  iron  bars.  Around  the  walls  of  the 
interior  are  shelves  upon  which  the  stock  of  the 
merchant  is  stored,  and  it  is  very  limited,  scarcely 
more  than  samples  of  many  articles  in  the  same  line  of 
trade.  One  dealer  will  have  nothing  but  silk  shawls, 
another  nothing  but  calico  prints,  a  third  nothing  but 
fezzes.     The  business  is  all  divided  and  dealers  in  the 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  123 

same  line  of  goods  occupy  the  same  quarter  and  sit 
cross-legged  in  their  shops  waiting  for  customers. 
Several  hundred  merchants  are  found  in  each  of  the 
bazaars,  who  pay  a  small  rental  to  the  government  and 
are  under  the  control  of  a  superintendent  appointed  by 
the  minister  of  the  interior,  who  is  supposed  to  keep 
the  alleys  clean  and  preserve  order.  Ladies  of  wealth 
seldom  go  into  the  bazaars  to  trade.  Articles  which 
they  wish  to  purchase  are  sent  to  their  homes. 

There  are  miles  and  miles  of  these  little  shops, 
through  which  one  may  walk  for  hours  without 
crossing  his  own  path,  glittering  with  diamonds  and 
other  precious  stones,  ivory  and  mother-of-pearl, 
costly  perfumes,  marvelous  carvings  in  ebony  and 
other  cabinet  woods,  embroidered  slippers  and  jackets, 
jeweled  pipes,  necklaces,  rare  brocades,  furs  and 
leather,  Persian  and  Indian  shawls,  Damascus  silks, 
Bokhara  table  covers,  hammered  brass  and  copper, 
metal  pots  and  vases  covered  with  inscriptions,  porce- 
lain of  all  kinds,  and  an  infinite  variety  of  articles  new 
and  old.  There  is  no  fixed  price  for  any  article,  and  a 
dealer  would  be  disappointed  if  you  purchased  at  the 
first  figure  demanded,  because  it  would  prevent  him 
from  showing  his  ability  at  negotiation.  Residents 
tell  you  that  you  must  not  pay  more  than  half  the  price 
asked,  and  must  dicker  until  the  merchant  comes  down 
to  your  figure.  If  he  does  not  do  so  you  must  walk 
away,  when  he  will  certainly  follow  you  and  tell  you 
that  you  may  have  it  at  your  own  price. 

There  are  second-hand  dealers  in  some  of  the  bazaars, 
and  during  the  month  of  Ramazan,  the  Mohammedan 
Lent,  the  Turks,  who  live  from  hand  to  mouth,  are  so 
much  in  need  of  money  that  they  sell  their  most 
precious  possessions,  and  careful  buyers  can  pick  up 


124    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

wonderful  bargains  among  the  second-hand  dealers. 
The  ladies  of  the  harems  are  especially  anxious  to 
obtain  money  at  this  season  to  celebrate  the  approach- 
ing feast  of  Bairam,  which  corresponds  to  our  Easter, 
when  everybody  is  supposed  to  appear  in  a  new  dress. 
When  they  cannot  obtain  the  money  from  their  hus- 
bands they  send  their  servants  to  the  bazaars  with 
jewelry,  embroideries,  rugs,  silver  plate  and  other 
articles  of  value,  which  are  sold  for  almost  anything 
they  will  bring.  On  Friday  the  Turkish  stalls  in  the 
bazaars  are  closed,  on  Saturday  all  the  Jewish  stalls, 
and  on  Sunday  those  of  the  Christians,  the  Armenians 
and  Greeks. 

A  certain  portion  of  the  bazaars  is  given  up  to 
auction  sales,  which  are  very  noisy  and  confusing.  It 
is  often  impossible  for  a  newcomer  to  understand  what 
is  going  on,  because  the  buyers  are  not  contented  with 
shouting  their  bids  once,  but  keep  up  an  exchange  of 
repartee  with  the  auctioneer  as  loud  as  they  can  yell, 
which  reminds  you  of  the  Board  of  Trade  in  Chicago. 
Sometimes  in  the  middle  of  an  auction  the  hour  of 
prayer  will  arrive,  and  the  faithful  Moslem,  who  imi- 
tates the  Pharisees  of  the  Saviour's  time,  never 
neglects  his  devotions.  He  will  kneel  down  in  the 
auction-room,  in  the  street  or  in  any  other  place  when 
he  hears  the  muezzin's  voice,  and  go  through  his 
prayers  without  regard  to  publicity. 

A  friend  tells  an  interesting  story  about  an  auction 
he  attended  not  long  ago,  in  which  an  English  lady 
was  bidding  for  some  rugs.  There  was  a  little  hush  in 
the  confusion,  of  which  she  took  advantage  to  ask  the 
auctioneer  whether  her  bid  was  standing  or  not. 
"Yes,"  he  replied,  "yours  was  the  last  bid,  and  I  shall 
knock  the  carpet  down  to  you  in  a  few  moments  unless 


SCENES  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE  125 

that  Moslem  who  is  now  saying  his  prayers  offers 
more."  As  Moslem  prayers  take  a  long  time,  the 
other  bidders  became  impatient  and  urged  the  auc- 
tioneer to  go  on.  The  praying  buyer,  however,  heard 
the  conversation  and  clutched  hold  of  the  rug,  but 
went  on  bowing  his  head  to  the  ground  and  muttering 
his  prayers  faster  than  ever.  When  he  finished  he  put 
in  another  bid,  and  the  carpet  was  knocked  down  to 
him. 


VII 

MOSQUES  AND  PALACES 

St.  Sophia  is  one  of  the  great  churches  of  the  world, 
ranking  next  to  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  in  magnitude, 
majesty  and  beauty.  Three  churches  of  the  same 
name  have  stood  upon  the  site  of  this  celebrated  sanc- 
tuary. The  first  was  built  by  Constantine  the  Great, 
completed  by  his  son  and  successor,  Constantius,  and 
dedicated  with  great  pomp  on  the  15th  of  February, 
316  A.  D.  The  second,  which  rose  upon  the  ashes  of 
the  first,  was  built  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius  and 
dedicated  in  415.  It  was  burned  during  the  sedition  in 
532,  and  the  present  edifice  was  erected  by  Justinian 
the  Great,  after  five  years  and  ten  months  of  labor, 
and  was  dedicated  on  Christmas  day  of  the  year  537. 
Constantinople  was  then  the  center  of  the  world  and 
the  headquarters  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  it  was 
the  ambition  of  that  great  emperor  to  embody  in  this 
building  an  expression  of  his  adoration  for  and  devo- 
tion to  the  omniscient  and  the  omnipotent  God,  to 
place  before  the  world  a  symbol  combining  all  things 
beautiful,  all  art — then  rescued  from  paganism — all 
riches,  all  human  thought  and  skill  as  a  tribute  to  the 
Creator.  Justinian  sought  architects,  artists,  decora- 
tors and  workmen  in  every  land,  and  his  biographers 
say  that  his  authority  enabled  him  to  choose  the  most 
competent  and  skillful  of  all  mankind  to  execute  the 
nobl<^st  of  human  enterprises. 

The  entire  world  contributed  material.  As  was  the 
custom  in  those  days,  the  pagan  temples  were  stripped 
of  their  treasures  to  adorn  the  sanctuary  of  the  true 

126 


MOSQUES   AND  PALACES  127 

God,  The  shrines  of  Isis  and  Osiris  were  despoiled  to 
do  it  honor;  the  temple  of  the  Sun  at  Baalbek,  of 
Diana  at  Ephesus,  of  Minerva  at  Athens,  of  Phoebus 
at  Delos  and  of  Cybele  at  Cyzicus  were  robbed  of  their 
pillars  and  columns  and  adornments  of  marble  and 
gold.  Solomon's  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  searched 
for  architectural  glories,  and  every  quarry  in  the  civil- 
ized world  was  seized  and  made  to  contribute.  The 
wonderful  columns  of  dark  green  marble  which  support 
the  galleries  came  from  the  temple  of  Diana  at  Ephe- 
sus, eight  columns  of  dark  red  porphyry  came  from 
the  temple  of  the  Sun  at  Baalbek,  other  columns  under 
the  galleries  were  formerly  in  the  temples  and  the 
palaces  of  the  Caesars  at  Rome.  The  walls  of  St. 
Sophia  showed  the  finest  specimens  of  material  and 
handicraft  in  existence,  and  the  magnificence  and 
variety  surpassed  all  other  structures.  Every  species 
of  marble,  granite  and  porphyry  that  was  considered  of 
any  value  in  the  known  world  is  said  to  have  been  rep- 
resented in  the  construction,  and  the  decorations  were 
of  corresponding  magnificence. 

The  altar  was  more  costly  than  gold,  for  it  was  com- 
posed of  a  variety  of  precious  materials  imbedded 
together  in  gold  and  silver  and  incrusted  with  pearls 
and  jewels,  and  its  cavity,  which  was  called  the  sea, 
was  set  with  diamonds,  rubies  and  other  costly  stones. 
Above  the  altar  was  a  tabernacle  upon  which  rested  a 
golden  cupola  and  a  golden  cross  weighing  seventy-five 
pounds,  which,  it  is  said,  was  so  thickly  veneered  with 
diamonds  and  other  jewels  that  the  gold  could  not  be 
seen.  The  seats  of  the  priests  and  the  throne  of  the 
patriarchs,  arranged  in  a  semicircle  behind  the  altar, 
were  of  solid  silver.  The  doors  of  the  temple  were  of 
ivory,  electrum  and  silver. 


128     77/^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

We  do  not  know  the  cost  of  this  wonderful  edifice, 
except  that  it  weighed  heavily  upon  all  classes  of  the 
community,  for  every  soul  w^ithin  the  dominions  of  the 
emperor,  which  then  comprised  the  civilized  world, 
was  compelled  to  contribute.  Finally,  as  it  approached 
completion,  Justinian,  who  stood  by,  clad  in  a  cotton 
tunic,  to  encourage  the  hundred  thousand  workmen, 
stretched  out  his  arms  to  Heaven  and  exclaimed: 

"Solomon,  I  have  surpassed  thee.  God  be  thanked, 
who  has  esteemed  me  worthy  to  complete  this  work." 

And  he  dedicated  it  to  Divine  Wisdom. 

The  Archangel  Michael  is  said  to  have  been  the 
architect,  and  revealed  the  designs  to  Justinian  in  a 
dream.  Celestial  visitors  frequently  descended  to 
inspect  the  progress  of  the  work,  and,  according  to 
the  legends  of  the  time,  it  could  not  have  been  accom- 
plished without  them.  When  the  building  was 
approaching  completion  Justinian  ran  short  of  money, 
whereupon  an  angel  appeared,  and,  leading  the  mules 
of  the  treasury  into  a  subterranean  vault,  loaded  them 
with  eight  thousand  pounds  of  miraculous  gold,  which 
relieved  the  situation.  When  a  dispute  arose  between 
the  emperor  and  the  architects  as  to  how  the  light 
should  fall  upon  the  altar,  the  angel  appeared  again  and 
instructed  them  to  arrange  a  corona,  or  circle  of  win- 
dows, and  dedicate  three  of  them  to  the  Father,  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  dome  was  the  first  of  the  kind 
ever  erected,  but  that  is  a  misrepresentation,  for  the 
Pantheon  at  Rome  was  built  many  years  before.  The 
dome  rises  over  the  center  of  the  church  to  a  height  of 
one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  feet  and  is  one  hundred 
and  seven  feet  in  diameter.  The  dome  of  the  Pantheon 
is  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet,  those  of  St.  Peter's  at 


MOSQUES   AND   PALACES  129 

Rome  and  Santa  Maria  at  Florence  are  each  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  feet,  and  that  of  St.  Paul's  at 
London  one  hundred  and  eight  feet.  The  interior  of 
St.  Sophia  is  oval  in  shape,  the  greatest  length  being 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  and  the  narrowest  one 
hundred  feet,  with  aisles  and  recesses  of  eighty  feet  on 
either  side,  making  the  entire  width  from  wall  to  wall 
two  hundred  and  sixty  feet.  There  are  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  columns,  forty  supporting  the  galleries  and 
seventy-four  the  dome.  One  hundred  architects  were 
employed  as  superintendents,  under  each  of  whom 
were  a  thousand  men,  including  masons,  carpenters, 
laborers,  decorators  and  others. 

Externally  the  building  is  very  ugly— a  mass  of  irreg- 
ular blank  walls  and  domes  painted  a  hideous  yellow 
with  black  stripes,  reminding  one  of  a  convict's  garb. 
But  the  interior  is  majestic  in  its  beauty,  and,  accord- 
ing to  a  famous  architectural  authority,  "is  the  most 
perfect  and  the  most  beautiful  church  ever  erected  by 
any  Christian  people."  The  chief  charm  of  the 
interior  is  its  massive  simplicity  and  perfect  propor- 
tions. It  is  almost  entirely  without  ornamentation, 
except  the  mosaic  work  upon  the  walls  and  ceiling. 
All  the  flat  surfaces  are  covered  with  mosaic  laid  upon 
gold.  Compared  with  St.  Peter's  at  Rome  it  is  as 
empty  as  a  barn.  There  are  no  tombs,  no  statues,  no 
altars,  nothing  to  obstruct  the  view  in  any  direction; 
nothing  to  conceal  the  graceful  outlines  of  the  arches 
and  the  simple  coloring  of  the  walls,  which  is  a  soft 
yellow,  nearly  as  deep  as  an  orange  and  traced  with 
different  dark  shades  of  green.  I  heard  a  young  Amer- 
ican critic  remark  that  there  was  "nothing  to  see 
in  St.  Sophia,"  which  is  almost  strictly  true,  in  com- 
parison with  the  other  great  churches  with  which  we 


130     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

are  familiar.  There  is  a  beautiful  balcony  for  the 
Sultan  to  occupy  in  case  he  should  come  to  St.  Sophia 
to  worship,  and  he  would  be  sheltered  by  gilded 
screens.  The  mihrab,  which  corresponds  to  the  altar 
in  Roman  Catholic  churches  and  indicates  the  direction 
of  Mecca,  towards  which  Moslems  turn  in  prayer,  is  a 
simple  recess  unadorned,  and  near  by  is  the  mimbcr, 
or  pulpit.  In  St.  Sophia,  as  in  all  mosques  which 
have  been  secured  to  Islam  by  the  power  of  arms,  the 
preacher  still  mounts  the  pulpit  with  sword  in  hand  and 
hangs  out  a  flag  as  a  symbol  of  victory  and  conquest. 

The  floor  of  the  entire  mosque  is  covered  with 
Turkish  rugs  of  the  richest  texture,  and  at  intervals  of 
six  or  eight  feet  wooden  troughs  made  of  undressed 
lumber  stretch  across  the  entire  area.  These  are  for 
the  convenience  of  worshipers  and  for  the  promotion 
of  neatness,  and  when  one  selects  a  place  to  kneel  and 
pray  he  drops  his  shoes  into  a  trough.  The  rugs  are 
divided  into  sections,  plainly  marked,  so  that  the 
faithful  cannot  have  any  excuse  for  crowding  each 
other.  At  two  large  fountains  they  can  perform  their 
ablutions  before  beginning  their  prayers,  and  above 
them  is  the  sensible  admonition:  "Wash  thy  sins  and 
not  thy  face  only." 

Nine  gates  lead  into  the  temple.  Over  the  central 
one,  by  which  the  emperor  entered,  is  painted  an  open 
book  on  a  reading  desk,  surmounted  by  a  dove  with 
outstretched  wings.  Upon  the  pages  of  the  book  are 
the  words:  "I  am  the  door  of  the  sheep.  By  me  if 
any  man  enter  in  he  shall  be  saved,  and  go  in  and  out 
and  find  pasture."  In  the  tympanum  above  is  a 
mosaic,  also  dating  back  to  Christian  times,  represent- 
ing Christ  upon  the  throne,  with  the  words:  "Peace  be 
unto  you.     I  am  the  light  of  the  world." 


MOSQUES   AND    PALACES  131 

The  Mohammedans  have  retained  most  of  the  orna- 
mentation of  the  Christians,  and  even  here  and  there  a 
cross  is  permitted  to  remain,  although  most  of  them 
were  chiseled  off  centuries  ago.  There  are  also 
several  relics  of  Christ  which  they  refuse  to  return  to 
the  Christians.  The  most  interesting  is  a  cradle  of  red 
marble,  said  to  have  been  used  by  Jesus,  and  a  basin 
in  which  He  is  said  to  have  been  washed. 

St.  Sophia  for  fifteen  hundred  years  has  been  the 
theater  of  some  of  the  greatest  and  most  solemn  cere- 
monies in  history,  and  was  particularly  associated  with 
the  Crusades.  On  one  of  the  piers  in  the  nave  is  the 
mark  resembling  the  imprint  of  a  bloody  hand,  said  to 
have  been  made  by  Mohammed  II.  as  his  war  charger 
stood  upon  the  bodies  of  Christian  corpses  on  the  day 
of  the  capture  of  Constantinople  by  the  Turks. 

All  around  the  mosques  are  tombs,  schools,  baths, 
fountains,  shops  for  the  sale  of  chaplets  and  other 
religious  articles,  hospices  for  pilgrims,  kitchens  for 
the  poor  and  a  theological  seminary  with  several  thou- 
sand students. 

The  Sultan  has  many  palaces,  all  of  them  con- 
structed by  his  predecessors.  He  has  built  none  him- 
self, although  he  altered  the  Yildiz  Kiosk,  in  which  he 
lives  in  seclusion,  and  modernized  it  a  good  deal. 
Most  of  his  palaces  are  occupied  by  his  seven  brothers 
and  sisters,  his  three  married  children,  and  other  rela- 
tives. Only  two  of  the  palaces  are  ever  seen  by 
strangers,  and  those  can  be  entered  only  with  a  permit 
from  the  Sultan  himself,  to  whom  application  must  be 
made  with  the  endorsement  of  your  ambassador. 
Dolma-Baghtcheh  Palace,  an  enormous  mass  of  glitter- 
ing marble,  with  gorgeous  gates  and  a  pretty  garden 
around  it,  stands  not  far  from  the  city  on  the  European 


132     Zy^^TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

side,and  Beyler-Bey,on  the  Asiatic  shore.  If  exquisitely 
carved  marble,  carved  wood  and  gilding,  mosaics  and 
mirrors,  crystal  chandeliers  and  gorgeous  frescoes, 
priceless  rugs,  tapestries,  gilded  furniture  and  divans 
upholstered  in  costly  damask,  all  in  a  prodigality  from 
which  taste  is  excluded,  constitute  an  ideal  palace, 
Beyler-Bey  excels. 

At  a  distance  the  exterior,  shown  against  the  wood- 
lands and  the  grassy  plateaus  of  the  Asiatic  shore, 
makes  an  exceedingly  pretty  picture,  and  Dolma- 
Baghtcheh  as  a  mass  is  imposing.  When  you  come  to 
examine  the  details  you  wonder  without  admiration  at 
the  lace-work  doors,  the  massive  gilt  columns,  the 
barbaric  domes  and  the  Saracenic  arches  and  a  crystal 
staircase,  which  must  have  cost  an  enormous  sum  of 
money.  Everything  about  the  place  is  of  the  most 
costly  material.  The  bath  and  toilet-room  connected 
with  the  Sultan's  apartments,  which  is  shown  with 
great  pride,  is  lined  with  slabs  of  alabaster— floor,  walls 
and  ceiling— and  the  tub  is  of  the  same  material. 
There  are  wash-basins  in  nearly  all  the  reception- 
rooms  made  of  onyx  and  alabaster,  which  we  were  told 
were  necessary  to  take  the  place  of  finger-bowls  after 
the  people  of  the  court  ate  sweets.  Both  the  Dolma- 
Baghtcheh  and  the  Beyler-Bey  palaces  are  mixtures  of 
Moorish,  Arabic,  Turkish  and  French  architecture  and 
decoration,  but  the  big  ballroom,  where  the  Sultans 
formerly  held  receptions,  is  pure  French. 

We  asked  the  handsome  young  aide-de-camp,  who 
was  detailed  by  His  Imperial  Majesty  to  conduct  us 
through  the  palaces,  how  a  ball-room  was  used  in  a 
country  where  gentlemen  were  not  permitted  to  meet 
ladies.  He  explained  that  in  the  harems  the  ladies 
often  danced  among  themselves  for  the  entertainment 


MOSQUES   AND  PALACES  133 

of  their  husbands,  although  the  latter  never  danced 
with  them,  but  a  ball-room  was  considered  a  necessary 
feature  of  a  palace,  and  this  one  had  been  used  on 
several  occasions  years  ago.  The  young  colonel 
showed  us  through  the  picture  gallery  also,  where 
there  is  a  collection  of  paintings  made  by  the  late 
Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  who  evidently  knew  very  little 
about  art.  His  taste  seemed  to  run  to  nude  women, 
horses,  and  battle  pictures  in  which  Turkish  legions 
were  trampling  down  their  enemies.  There  were 
several  portraits  of  Sultans  also,  notwithstanding  the 
popular  impression  that  the  Mohammedan  religion 
forbids  the  reproduction  of  the  human  face  and  figure. 
People  who  have  read  fanciful  descriptions  of  Con- 
stantinople, penned  by  poets,  artists  and  other  senti- 
mentalists like  D'Amicis,  for  example,  who  are  apt  to 
see  more  than  appears  to  ordinary  eyes,  have  an 
impression  that  the  Seraglio  of  the  Sultan  is  a  palace 
of  mysterious  seclusion;  that  it  has  something  to  do 
with  the  harem  and  other  private  affairs  of  His  Imperial 
Majesty.  I  supposed  so  until  I  came  to  Constanti- 
nople, but  it  is  nothing  of  the  sort.  Literally,  a 
seraglio  means  a  portico  or  vestibule  surrounding  any 
habitation,  palace,  kiosk  or  mosque,  but  the  term  is 
commonly  used  as  a  collective  noun,  and  refers  to  a 
collection  of  buildings  used  for  different  purposes, 
such  as  the  residence  of  a  pasha,  his  harem,  his  offices, 
his  stables  and  the  mosque  that  is  attached  to  all  of 
the  large  establishments  in  Turkey.  The  Seraglio  of 
the  Sultan  is  a  large  collection  of  buildings  inclosed  by 
a  mighty  wall,  covering  the  extreme  point  of  the 
peninsula  upon  which  Stamboul  stands, and  dividing  the 
Sea  of  Marmora  from  the  Golden  Horn.  In  its  geo- 
graphical association  it  corresponds  to  Battery  Park, 


134     77/^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

New  York,  and  is  the  most  conspicuous  object  one 
sees  upon  approaching  the  city  and  the  last  upon 
which  the  eye  rests  when  departing.  It  is  also  the 
most  interesting  spot  in  all  Turkey  from  a  historical 
standpoint.  There  is  no  place  in  the  East  except  the 
Holy  Land  which  has  so  many  associations.  It  is  to 
Constantinople  what  the  Kremlin  is  to  Moscow,  the 
Escurial  to  Madrid,  Potsdam  to  Berlin,  Versailles  to 
Paris,  and  perhaps  we  may  compare  it  to  Hampton 
Court  near  London. 

The  garden  of  the  Seraglio  was  the  Acropolis  of  the 
original  city,  the  site  of  the  Palatium  sacrum  of  Con- 
stantine,  the  citadel  of  his  successors,  the  palace 
of  Justinian  and  Placidia,  queen  of  the  Goths.  Few 
spots  on  earth  have  had  a  longer  or  more  tragic 
history.  From  the  gardens  of  the  Seraglio  sailed  the 
fleets  of  the  Phoenicians,  the  war  barges  of  the 
Romans,  the  triremes  from  Asia,  the  galleys  of  Darius 
the  Persian,  of  Xerxes,  of  Alexander  the  Great,  Philip 
of  Macedon,  and  I  would  not  be  surprised  if  Agamem- 
non, Ajax,  Achilles  and  those  bold  old  warriors  had 
landed  there  many  a  time.  The  gilded  barges  of 
Venice  and  Genoa  brought  their  soldiers  there  and 
from  that  landing-place  carried  away  millions  of  plun- 
der. The  feet  of  the  Crusaders  trod  the  gravel  walks 
— Richard  the  Lion-Hearted,  Godfrey  de  Bouillon, 
and  the  Frank  emperors  made  it  their  headquarters  in 
the  time  of  the  Crusades.  Since  the  occupation  of 
Constantinople  by  the  Turks,  the  resplendent  caiques 
of  the  Sultans  have  come  and  gone,  some  of  them 
bearing  candidates  for  uneasy  thrones,  and  others, 
desperate  creatures,  seeking  refuge  from  a  miserable 
death. 

From   the  time  of  Mohammed  II.,  who  took  Con- 


MOSQUES   AND    PALACES  135 

stantinople  by  storm  in  1453,  to  Abdul  Medjid,  in  1864, 
who  deserted  it  for  the  more  cheerful  palace  of  the 
Dolma-Baghtcheh  on  the  banks  of  the  Bosphorus, 
twenty-two  Sultans  have  been  imprisoned  or  murdered, 
or  died  by  violence  within  the  palaces  of  the  Seraglio. 
For  four  hundred  years  the  fate  of  the  sovereigns  of 
Turkey  was  subject  to  the  caprice  of  the  all-powerful 
Janizaries,  who  made  it  their  headquarters.  Up  to  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century  it  was  the  fashion  for  the 
Janizaries  to  decapitate  unpopular  Sultans  and  minis- 
ters and  expose  their  heads  upon  the  pillars  of  the 
gate  in  order  that  the  public  might  know  what  had 
happened.  Two  niches  on  either  side  of  the  Sublime 
Porte,  which  is  the  main  gateway  to  the  Seraglio,  were 
made  for  that  purpose.  Sometimes,  however,  as  a 
special  mark  of  vengeance  or  honor,  the  heads  were 
placed,  like  that  of  John  the  Baptist,  upon  a  silver 
charger  and  left  outside  where  the  public  could  examine 
them  closely. 

Over  the  Sublime  Porte,  a  stately  arch  with  pon- 
derous gates,  is  an  Arabic  inscription  reading:  "May 
Allah  ever  preserve  the  glory  of  the  possessor;  may 
Allah  ever  strengthen  his  foundations." 

In  the  first  large  court,  known  as  the  Court  of  the 
Janizaries,  is  an  enormous  tree  called  by  their  name, 
under  which  they  were  in  the  habit  of  hatching  their 
conspiracies.  It  is  said  to  be  the  largest  tree  in 
Europe,  and  two  stunted  columns  under  its  far-spread- 
ing branches  once  served  as  a  guillotine.  There  are 
many  buildings  within  the  walls  in  addition  to  the 
palaces,  the  harem,  the  barracks  of  the  soldiers  and 
those  used  for  official  purposes.  The  mint  is  there, 
the  arsenal,  magazines  for  the  storage  of  explosives,  a 
hospital,  the  imperial  stables,  quarters  for  an  army  of 


'O 


6     T/ie  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 


slaves,  several  pleasure  kiosks  and  a  mosque.  The 
Greek  church  of  St.  Irene,  erected  by  Constantine  the 
Great,  which  was  converted  into  an  armory  instead  of 
a  mosque,  is  a  venerable  monument  of  the  Byzantine 
style  of  architecture.  In  the  museum  of  the  armory  is 
the  scimiter  used  by  Mohammed  II.  in  the  siege  of 
Constantinople,  the  sword  of  Scanderbeg,  the  armor 
of  Tamerlane  and  the  porphyry  tombs  of  Constantine, 
Thcodosius,  Julian  the  Apostate  and  other  early  Greek 
emperors. 

The  Chirkau  Scherif,  or  Hall  of  the  Holy  Garment, 
is  the  most  sacred  place  in  Turkey,  for  it  shelters  the 
mantle  of  the  Prophet  Mohammed,  his  staff,  his  saber, 
his  standard,  and,  among  other  relics,  two  hairs  from 
his  venerable  beard,  which  are  inclosed  in  a  casket  of 
gold.  The  sacred  mantle  is  a  long  brown  robe  of 
camel's-hair,  made  in  the  same  shape  and  style  and 
resembling  in  appearance  those  worn  by  Persian 
priests.  It  is  inclosed  in  a  frame  and  covered  with 
cloth-of-gold  for  protection,  with  little  slits  cut  in  the 
covering  in  order  that  the  threads  may  be  seen.  The 
standard  of  Islam  is  a  green  flag  or  banner,  about  two 
feet  square,  of  the  finest  silk,  embroidered  with  an 
inscription  similar  to  those  seen  in  all  the  Mohamme- 
dan churches,  declaring  that  "there  is  no  God 
but  Allah  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  This 
standard  is  said  to  have  been  carried  by  Mohammed 
himself  and  has  ever  since  been  the  most  significant 
and  sacred  egis  of  the  Moslem  world,  the  symbol  of  el 
jihady  or  call  to  a  religious  war,  when  borne  publicly 
by  the  Sultan  in  the  mosque  of  St.  Sophia. 

There  are  many  other  interesting  buildings  in  the 
Seraglio,  some  of  them  famous  for  their  decorations 
and    the   carved    marble    used    in    their    construction. 


MOSQUES  AND    PALACES  137 

Others  are  gloomy-looking  storehouses  for  archives 
and  wardrobes  for  the  robes  of  state — once  carefully 
kept  by  black  eunuchs,  now  all  more  or  less  dilapidated 
and  abandoned.  The  kitchens  cover  a  large  area  and 
are  roofed  with  domes  perforated  to  let  out  the  smoke 
instead  of  having  the  ordinary  chimney,  and  in  the 
olden  days  it  is  said  that  40,000  oxen  was  the  yearly 
complement,  with  a  corresponding  number  of  sheep, 
goats,  calves,  capons,  geese,  ducks,  pigeons  and  other 
supplies. 

In  August,  1863,  several  of  the  ancient  buildings 
were  destroyed  and  damaged  by  fire,  and  nowadays  the 
most  of  them  are  yellow  and  dingy,  sadly  in  need  of 
paint  and  restoration.  There  is  everywhere  a  look  of 
neglect.  Most  of  the  Seraglio  is  vacant  except  for  the 
custodians  and  guards,  and  everywhere  there  is  a 
pathetic  squalor. 

The  most  beautiful  of  all  the  buildings,  the  famous 
oriental  kiosk  known  as  Tschinili,  or  the  mosque  of 
porcelain,  built  by  the  conqueror  Mohammed  in  imita- 
tion of  one  he  saw  at  Bagdad,  remains  in  an  excellent 
state  of  preservation,  for  which  we  are  duly  grateful, 
and  its  portico,  with  graceful  pillars  elaborately  carved 
in  the  most  delicate  lace-work,  its  dome  starred  with 
gilt  coruscations,  and  lined  from  ceiling  to  floor  with 
beautiful  blue  Persian  tiles,  look  as  bright  and  new  as 
they  did  on  the  day  they  were  made.  The  doors  are 
of  bronze,  the  woodwork  is  set  with  mother-of-pearl 
and  the  rugs  and  hangings  are  of  the  finest  silk.  It  is 
altogether  the  prettiest  thing  in  Constantinople. 

Across  the  court,  however,  is  what  we  came  to  see, — 
the  treasury  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  or,  as  it  used  to 
be  known,  the  Green  Vaults  of  Constantine.  Here  is 
a  display  of   barbaric    splendor   and    a   collection    of 


138     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

treasure  and  baubles  which  no  Turk  is  ever  allowed  to 
look  upon  except  the  Aghas  and  eunuchs  who  are 
intrusted  with  its  protection,  and  even  they  are  spies 
upon  each  other.  No  one  can  enter  this  building 
without  an  order  signed  by  Abrahim  Pasha,  private 
secretary  to  His  Majesty.  Applications  by  strangers 
must  be  made  to  the  Sultan  personally  through  the 
ambassador  of  their  country,  and  he  requires  several 
days  to  consider  before  granting  a  permit.  Perhaps 
he  makes  inquiries  as  to  the  character  of  the  applicant, 
because  he  is  exceedingly  jealous  of  his  treasures  and 
always  apprehensive  lest  they  should  be  seen  by  some 
person  who  may  make  trouble  about  them. 

No  resident  of  Constantinople  except  the  families 
of  the  diplomatic  corps,  no  Turk  and  no  person  who 
understands  the  Turkish  language  can  be  admitted, 
for  fear  they  might  give  information  concerning  the 
millions  of  dollars'  worth  of  precious  stones  and  other 
valuables  which  would  tempt  robbers  or  cause  discon- 
tent among  the  poverty-stricken  people.  When  the 
Sultan  tells  suppliants  that  he  has  no  money  they 
might  ask  him  to  sell  some  of  the  diamonds  and  pearls 
and  emeralds  or  melt  up  some  of  the  gold  in  his  treas- 
ury. Very  few  Turks  know  what  is  there.  Few 
members  of  the  Sultan's  household  have  ever  seen  the 
collection.  Most  of  them  are  gifts,  heirlooms  and 
trophies  of  war.  Many  have  been  handed  down  by 
twenty-eight  generations  of  Sultans,  and  it  is  claimed 
that  the  collection  has  never  been  disturbed;  but  that 
is  an  exaggeration.  No  matter  how  hard-pressed  the 
Sultan  may  be  for  money  he  would  not  sell  any  of  his 
treasures,  but  sometimes  he  has  taken  out  some  trifle 
for  a  gift — a  jewel  or  an  ornament;  something  that 
would  not  be  missed. 


MOSQUES   AND    PALACES  139 

There  is  no  such  useless  wealth  in  all  the  world 
except  in  the  Kremlin  at  Moscow.  That  looks  larger 
because  it  occupies  more  space  and  is  better  arranged 
for  display.  The  Sultan's  treasures  are  crowded  into 
two  little  rooms,  arranged  without  any  taste  or  plan  of 
installation,  and  the  loose  and  unset  jewels,  seals  and 
other  articles  of  adornment  are  kept  in  big  salad-bowls 
that  will  hold  a  couple  of  gallons.  There  are  five 
bowls  full  of  diamonds,  rubies,  emeralds,  turquoise  and 
other  unset  precious  stones,  perhaps  a  half  bushel  alto- 
gether, and  a  large  tray  about  twelve  by  fifteen  inches 
in  size  covered  with  beautiful  unmounted  pearls. 
One  of  the  emeralds  weighs  two  kilograms  and  another 
is  almost  of  the  same  size.  They  are  said  to  be  the 
largest  emeralds  in  the  world. 

The  most  gorgeous  and  overpowering  spectacle  in 
the  collection  is  a  throne  said  to  be  of  solid  gold  set, 
mosaic-like,  with  uncut  rubies,  emeralds  and  pearls, 
which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Shah  of  Persia,  and  was 
captured  and  brought  to  Constantinople  as  the  spoil  of 
war  by  Sultan  Selim  I.  in  1502.  There  are  scepters, 
armor,  sabers,  scimiters,  pistols,  saddles  and  other 
equestrian  equipments,  walking-sticks,  sandals  and 
other  articles,  some  of  them  imbedded  with  jewels.  A 
toilet  table  of  ordinary  size  is  veneered  with  diamonds, 
while  the  wash-bowl,  pitcher  and  other  toilet  articles 
are  set  thickly  with  the  most  beautiful  turquoise. 
There  are  cups  of  onyx,  crystal  and  jade;  stirrups, 
bridles  and  other  horse-furniture  of  gold,  and  in  the 
corner  of  a  little  case  is  a  two-quart  bowl  filled  with 
diamond  buttons,  which  some  time  or  another  fastened 
the  garments  of  some  extravagant  sultan.  Arranged 
around  the  wall  are  efifigies  of  a  dozen  or  more  of  the 
great  sultans  in  their  richest  robes  of  state  and  wearing 


140    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

their  favorite  jewels.  If  those  efifigies  could  be  stripped 
of  their  ornaments  they  alone  would  make  a  display  of 
the  jeweler's  art  that  would  be  worth  exhibition. 
There  is  no  catalogue,  and  I  was  prohibited  from 
taking  notes.  Newspaper  men  are  never  knowingly 
admitted,  lest  they  should  publish  descriptions  of  the 
riches  of  the  treasury  and  give  the  Sultan  hysterics. 

The  ceremony  of  opening  the  doors  was  quite  inter- 
esting. There  arc  two  sets  of  keys  for  everything,  and 
they  are  held  by  two  custodians  who  have  nothing  to 
do  with  each  other  and  are  supposed  to  be  enemies. 
Each  has  a  guard  of  twenty-four  men,  who  live  apart 
and  are  forbidden  to  associate  with  each  other  or  have 
any  more  than  the  strictest  oflficial  communication. 
Representatives  of  each  of  these  squads  are  on  duty  at 
all  times  and  are  expected  to  act  as  spies  on  each 
other.  They  are  peculiar-looking  people  and  wear  a 
queer  livery — a  high-buttoned  coat  of  black  broadcloth 
like  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  with  a  red  fez. 

Our  card  of  invitation  fixed  our  reception  at  11:30 
a.m.  We  arrived  a  little  before  that  hour,  to  find 
that  the  custodians  had  anticipated  us  and  had  drawn 
up  their  guards  in  two  lines  facing  each  other.  One  of 
the  chiefs  then  went  forward  and  unlocked  his  share  of 
the  fastenings.  Then  the  other  came  forward  and  used 
his  keys.  Each  was  accompanied  by  at  least  twelve 
men,  and  under  the  regulations  could  not  turn  a  bolt 
until  they  all  were  present.  If  anyone  had  been 
absent  we  would  have  been  compelled  to  wait  for  him 
or  come  another  day.  And  every  one  of  these  guards 
expected  a  liberal  fee.  The  cost  of  looking  at  the 
Sultan's  treasures  amounted  to  %i^.  After  the  inspec- 
tion we  were  invited  to  a  pavilion  where  coffee,  sweets 
and    cigarettes    were    served    with    great    formality. 


MOSQUES   AND    PALACES  141 

While  we  were  thfcre  an  accident  happened.  Our 
courier,  in  reply  to  an  inquiry,  unintentionally  dropped 
a  few  words  of  Turkish,  and  there  was  great  excite- 
ment. One  of  the  officials  took  him  aside  and  put  him 
through  a  close  examination,  but  finally  accepted  his 
explanation  that  he  was  not  a  Turk  nor  a  resident  of 
Turkey,  and  was  not  familiar  with  the  language,  but 
had  learned  a  few  words  during  the  recent  war  with 
Greece,  when  he  had  served  as  a  dragoman  for  an 
English  newspaper  correspondent. 


VIII 

ROBERT   COLLEGE  AND   THE   MISSIONARIES 

Upon  the  summit  of  a  bold  promontory,  overlooking 
the  Bosphorus,  almost  midway  between  the  Black  Sea 
and  the  Sea  of  Marmora,  one  hour's  ride  by  boat  from 
Constantinople,  stands  a  monument.  No  man  could 
need  or  wish  a  nobler  one.  It  is  called  Robert  College, 
and  was  erected  about  forty  years  ago  by  a  New 
York  merchant,  Christopher  R.  Robert,  who  was  inter- 
ested in  Turkish  trade.  It  has  an  appropriate  place. 
A  lighthouse  should  always  stand  were  it  can  see  and 
be  seen,  and  Robert  College  has  done  more  to 
enlighten  the  East  than  any  other  agency.  Little  pas- 
senger boats,  like  those  upon  the  Thames  in  London 
and  upon  the  Seine  in  Paris,  run  regularly  or  rather 
irregularly,  up  and  down  the  Bosphorus,  touching  the 
many  little  suburban  settlements  along  its  shores.  At 
Bebek,  a  pretty  town  much  frequented  by  European 
residents  of  Constantinople,  is  a  Protestant  church, 
where  formerly  stood  a  temple  to  Artemis  Dictynna. 
After  the  Turks  obtained  possession  palaces  were  laid 
out  there,  and  at  one  of  them,  called  "The  Kiosk  of 
the  Conferences,"  the  Sultans  used  to  receive  ambas- 
sadors secretly,  without  the  knowledge  of  their  min- 
isters and  other  officials  of  the  government,  and  there 
several  important  treaties  between  the  Ottoman  Empire 
and  the  European  Powers  were  negotiated  and  signed. 
The  Bosphorus  is  only  about  eight  hundred  yards  wide 
at  this  point.  Near  Bebek  was  the  celebrated  bridge 
over  which  Darius  led  the  Persian  armies  into  Europe. 

142 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES  143 

A  throne  was  hewn  in  a  rock  at  the  top  of  the  promon- 
tory on  which  he  sat  and  watched  his  army  crossing 
from  Asia.  Two  pillars  of  white  marble  inscribed 
with  the  names  of  the  nations  that  contributed  to  his 
army  formerly  stood  there,  according  to  Herodotus, 
but  have  since  been  removed. 

Passengers  for  the  college  land  from  the  boats  at 
Bebek  and  follow  an  easy  path  up  a  hill  beside  an 
ancient  cemetery  and  under  the  shadow  of  the  walls  of 
Rumili  Hisar,  a  mighty  castle  built  by  Mohammed  II. 
in  1453  while  he  was  besieging  the  city  of  Constanti- 
nople. Immediately  opposite,  upon  the  Asiatic  shore 
of  the  Bosphorus,  a  similar  castle  was  erected,  and  the 
two  commanded  the  passage  so  that  every  ship  passing 
up  and  down  was  compelled  to  pay  toll.  Mohammed 
called  this  castle  Boghag  Kessen  (Throat  Cutter),  for 
he  had  a  pleasant  way  with  him.  The  ruins  are  as 
picturesque  and  extensive  as  any  in  Europe,  and  the 
towers  are  almost  perfect  after  nearly  six  hundred 
years,  although  the  floors  and  ceilings  have  long  since 
fallen  through.  The  walls  have  crumbled  and  much 
stone  has  been  taken  away  for  building  material. 
They  were  originally  thirty  feet  thick  and  thirty  feet 
high,  and  were  built  with  the  greatest  haste  and  energy. 
Mohammed  employed  1,000  masons,  1,000  lime-burners 
and  10,000  laborers  in  the  construction,  and  to  each 
mason  was  assigned  the  task  of  building  two  yards  of 
wall  in  three  months.  By  this  division  of  labor  and 
responsibility  the  work  was  completed  in  the  time 
named  by  the  ingenious  designs  of  the  engineers,  and 
the  outline  of  the  walls  forms  the  Turkish  word 
"Mahomet." 

There  are  other  interesting  places  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, but  Robert  College  is  the  most  interesting  of 


144    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

all.     The  institution  is  built  and  conducted  upon  the 
American  plan.    You  might  fancy  that  the  dormitories 
and  lecture-rooms  and  library  of  some  institution  in 
Ohio  or  Illinois  had  been  lifted  bodily  and  transported 
there.     They  are  of  solid  masonry  and  as  nearly  fire- 
proof as  it  is  possible  to  make  them.     Dr.  Washburn, 
the    president,    has    a   comfortable    home   within    the 
grounds,  of  corresponding  architecture  and  material, 
and  the  residences  of  the  faculty  are  scattered  around 
the  neighborhood  inside  and  outside  the  walls.     It  is 
not  necessary  to  describe  the  buildings,  for  they  are  so 
much  like  our  own.     In  the  basement  of  the  principal 
dormitory  is  the  common  dining-room  at  which    the 
boarding  students  take  their  meals  and  the  day  students 
their  lunches,  and  that,   too,   is  conducted   upon   the 
American   rather  than   the  Turkish  plan.     The  same 
can  be  said  of  the  dormitories,  the  library  and    the 
gymnasium.     The  preparatory  department  has  a  new 
building,  the  gift  of  Miss  Stokes,  of  New  York,  which 
cost   $40,000.     Other   buildings   are    greatly   needed, 
because  the  present  accommodations  are  not  sufficient 
for  the  demands  upon  them.     It  is  a  lamentable  fact 
that  students  have  to  be  turned  away  every  year  because 
there  is  no  room  for  them.     The  institution  has  done 
incalculable  good,  but  it  might  do  more.     Its  useful- 
ness could  be  materially  increased  with  a  little  more 
room  and  a  little  more  money. 

The  gymnasium  and  playground  are  considered  of 
unusual  importance,  as  the  faculty  encourage  athletics 
not  only  for  physical,  but  for  moral  and  social  culture. 
Football,  cricket,  baseball  and  other  athletic  sports 
are  the  most  effective  equalizers  that  can  be  adopted. 
The  students  of  the  college  come  from  all  ranks,  castes 
and  from  every  social  stratum,  but  social  distinctions 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES  145 

are  not  recognized  at  Robert  College  any  more  than 
at  our  institutions  at  home,  and  there  is  alvva  rs  more 
or  less  difficulty  in  reconciling  the  representatives  of 
the  favored  classes  to  the  doctrine  of  human  equality. 
The  football  field,  however,  is  a  pure  democracy, 
where  all  meet  on  the  same  level  and  the  best  man 
wins  the  greatest  degree  of  respect  and  exercises  the 
greatest  influence. 

Robert  College  is  not  a  missionary  institution,  nor  is 
it  sectarian  in  any  respect.  Its  object  is  to  afford  the 
young  men  of  Turkey  and  the  surrounding  countries 
facilities  for  acquiring  such  an  education  as  - /ill  best  fit 
them  for  professional  and  business  life.  It  aims  to 
combine  the  highest  mo'^al  training  with  the  most  com- 
plete mental  discipline.  The  purpose  of  the  faculty  is 
to  adapt  it  to  the  needs  of  the  people  and  develop 
Christian  manliness  among  the  students  without 
attempting  to  teach  them  theology.  The  plan  of  dis- 
cipline and  instruction  is  the  same  as  in  the  ordinary 
colleges  in  America.  The  recitations  and  lectures  are 
all  in  English.  American  text-books  only  are  used. 
Students  are  required  to  attend  chapel  daily  and 
religious  services  on  Sunday.  No  exceptions  are 
made  either  for  Jews  or  Gentiles,  Roman  Catholics  or 
Mohammedans.  They  study  the  evidences  of  Chris- 
tianity just  as  they  study  moral  philosophy,  political 
economy  and  geology.  The  course  of  study  has  been 
selected  with  a  view  to  the  practical  application  of 
learning,  as  well  as  intellectual  development.  The  reg- 
ular collegiate  department  occupies  five  full  years.  The 
tuition  fees,  including  board  and  lodging,  are  g200  a 
year.  Tuition  without  board  is  $40  a  year,  and  tuition 
and  luncheon  daily  ^65  a  year.  There  are  several 
scholarships   which   are   utilized    to  the  assistance  of 


146    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

worthy  young  men  upon  the  recommendation  of  the 
faculty. 

The  board  of  trustees  has  its  office  in  New  York. 
The  president  is  John  S.  Kennedy,  the  secretary 
Edward  B.  Coe  and  the  treasurer  Frederick  A.  Booth. 
John  Sloane,  Cleveland  H.  Dodge,  William  T.  Booth, 
William  C.  Sturgis,  Robert  W.  de  Forrest  and  William 
Church  Osborn  constitute  the  board.  The  faculty  is 
mixed,  a  majority  of  them  being  natives  of  the  East — 
Greeks,  Armenians,  Bulgarians,  Roumanians  and 
Turks — all  graduates  of  the  institution  and  members 
of  the  Protestant  faith.  Dr.  George  Washburn  is  the 
president;  and  his  father-in-law.  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin,  was 
the  actual  founder  of  the  institution.  In  i860  Christo- 
pher R.  Robert,  having  visited  Constantinople,  was 
deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  for  an  institution 
of  higher  learning  there,  and  invited  Dr.  Hamlin  to  join 
him  in  founding  an  institution  which  should  offer  to 
young  men,  without  distinction  of  race  or  creed,  a  thor- 
ough American  education.  Dr.  Hamlin  opened  the  col- 
lege in  a  rented  house  in  Bebek  in  1863.  Mr.  Robert 
furnished  all  the  funds  to  sustain  the  institution  until 
his  death,  in  1878,  when  he  bequeathed  tothe  college 
one-fifth  of  his  estate,  amounting  to  about  §400,000. 
Articles  of  incorporation  were  secured  in  New  York  in 
1864,  and  in  1869  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  was  persuaded 
by  the  American  minister  at  Constantinople  to  issue  an 
?V^^  conferring  upon  the  institution  all  the  ad/antages 
bestowed  by  the  imperial  government  upon  schools  in 
Turkey.  On  July  4,  1869,  the  corner-stone  of  the  first 
building  was  laid  by  E.  J.  Morris,  the  American  minis- 
ter, and  it  was  completed  in  1871.  It  still  stands  as 
the  principal  building  of  the  college,  and  is  known  as 
Hamlin  Hall. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES  147 

Other  buildings  have  been  erected  since  with  funds 
contributed  by  friends  of  the  college  in  America,  and 
since  the  death  of  Mr.  Robert  the  endowment  fund  has 
been  increased  by  generous  contributions  from  other 
American  citizens.  The  college  is  almost  self-sup- 
porting. The  receipts  from  tuition  fees  cover  the 
salaries  of  the  professors,  leaving  a  balance  to  be  paid 
from  the  income  of  the  endowment  fund  which  is 
greater  or  less  according  to  circumstances.  The  total 
annual  expenses  are  within  1^50,000  a  year,  which  is  a 
very  small  average  for  three  hundred  and  eleven  stu- 
dents, of  whom  one  hundred  and  eighty-two  sleep  and 
board  in  the  college. 

The  students  come  from  all  parts  of  Asia  Minor, 
Turkey  in  Europe,  Greece  and  the  Balkan  States — the 
largest  number  from  the  immediate  neighborhood  of 
Constantinople;  the  next  largest  from  Greece,  Bul- 
garia and  Roumania,  but  almost  every  nation  is  repre- 
sented. The  Greeks  outnumber  the  rest,  having  had 
one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  representatives  in  1902, 
the  Armenians  one  hundred  and  eight  and  the  Bul- 
garians fifty-one.  Then  came  the  Turks,  Israelites, 
Roumanians,  Austrians,  French,  Russians,  English 
and  Americans,  Assyrians,  Georgians,  Persians  and 
Levantines  in  order.  The  parents  of  the  students 
belong  to  almost  every  religious  faith  represented  in 
Constantinople,  and  are  willing  to  sacrifice  their  relig- 
ious scruples  in  order  to  obtain  the  educational  advan- 
tages of  the  college. 

The  policy  of  the  Turkish  government  makes  it 
difficult  and  often  impossible  for  Turks  to  attend  the 
institution,  and  hence  there  are  no  professed  Moslems 
among  the  students.  It  would  be  unsafe  and  it  might 
be  fatal  for  any  student  to  declare  himself  a  Moslem. 


148    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

It  is  suspected,  however,  that  students  belonging  to 
that  faith  have  enrolled  themselves  as  members  of 
others.  Young  men  who  have  come  from  different 
parts  of  Turkey  to  enter  the  college  are  often  arrested 
and  imprisoned  upon  their  arrival.  Dr.  Washburn  says, 
however,  that  the  minister  of  police  is  usually  reason- 
able, and  when  satisfied  that  they  have  come  in  good 
faith  he  delivers  them  to  the  treasurer  of  the  institution 
and  holds  him  responsible  for  their  behavior.  In  1901 
one  of  the  students  was  detained  in  prison  for  two 
months  on  the  charge  of  bringing  seditious  literature 
into  the  country.  The  police  inspectors  found  in  his 
luggage  two  pieces  of  music  which  can  be  bought  at 
any  music  store  in  Constantinople,  but  for  some 
reason  or  another  the  charge  was  pressed  against  him 
and  it  cost  his  father  a  large  sum  of  nioney  to  obtain 
his  release. 

The  graduates  are  found  in  high  places  throughout 
the  East.  Many  of  them  occupy  conspicuous  positions 
under  the  governments  of  Bulgaria,  Roumania  and  the 
neighboring  countries.  At  one  time  four  of  the 
Robert  College  alumni  were  in  the  ministry  of  Bulgaria, 
including  the  late  Mr.  Stoiloff,  who  was  recognized  as 
the  ablest  statesman  in  that  country  after  Stambouloff's 
death,  and  was  prime  minister  from  1894  to  igoi. 

Eleven  different  services  are  held  in  Protestant 
churches  in  Constantinople  every  Sunday  in  four  differ- 
ent languages.  Three  by  the  Church  of  England — one 
in  the  chapel  of  the  embassy,  for  the  British  ambas- 
sador has  a  chaplain  and  a  physician  furnished  by  his 
government,  as  well  as  a  secretary;  at  St.  Paul's 
Church,  which  was  erected  fifty  years  ago  as  a  memo- 
rial to  the  English  soldiers  who  died  in  the  Crimean 
war,  and  in  a  chapel  in  the  suburbs  at  ancient  Calcedon. 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES  149 

At  a  chapel  connected  with  the  Dutch  embassy,  union 
services  are  held  by  the  Presbyterians,  Methodists  and 
Dutch  Reformed.  There  is  also  a  chapel  connected 
with  the  German  embassy  and  a  Lutheran  chaplain. 
Besides  these  there  are  churches  under  the  direction 
of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  attended 
by  Protestants  at  Robert  College,  at  the  American 
College  for  Girls  at  Scutari  and  at  the  American  and 
English  colony  at  Bebek  on  the  Bosphorus.  The 
Scotch  Presbyterians  and  the  Established  Church 
of  Scotland  each  has  a  house  of  worship,  and  the 
French  Protestants  residing  in  Galata  and  Pera 
have  a  very  pretty  church.  Protestant  missions  to  the 
natives  are  scattered  all  over  the  city  and  are  con- 
ducted by  British,  German,  Dutch  and  American 
societies.  The  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
has  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  missionaries  in 
Turkey,  including  forty  men  and  over  one  hundred 
unmarried  women.  The  British  and  Dutch  Reformed 
missionaries  are  almost  as  numerous.  In  all  Turkey 
there  are  about  50,000  registered  Protestants  and  13,000 
communicants  in  the  various  churches,  being  mostly 
Greeks  and  Armenians.  As  we  were  particularly  inter- 
ested in  the  work  of  the  American  missionaries  only,  I 
did  not  obtain  the  statistics  of  the  others,  but  the 
American  Board  alone  has  one  hundred  and  thirty 
organized  native  churches,  twenty-five  of  which  are 
self-supporting.  In  the  city  of  Constantinople  are 
two  large  congregations  of  Armenian  and  Greek  Prot- 
estants, who  have  already  purchased  lots  to  erect 
houses  of  worship  and  have  raised  funds  for  that 
purpose,  but  are  prohibited  from  doing  so  by  the 
officials.  They  have  made  applications  for  building 
permits  frequently  from  time  to  time  during  the  last 


150    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

eight  or  ten  years,  which  have  always  been  denied 
them,  and  even  the  American  minister  cannot  exert 
sufficient  influence  to  secure  that  privilege.  No  Prot- 
estant church  can  be  erected  in  Constantinople.  No 
man  dare  sell  a  piece  of  land  for  -the  purpose.  The 
churches  already  standing  have  been  erected  under 
the  patronage  of  the  different  foreign  legations  and 
embassies. 

A  number  of  high  standard  colleges  are  maintained 
by  the  missionary  boards  in  Turkey,  as  well  as  schools 
of  all  grades.  The  colleges  are  now  educating  a  total 
of  3,(X)0  students,  and  the  pupils  in  the  schools  number 
over  20,000,  most  of  these  institutions  being  self- 
supporting.  The  students  come  chiefly  from  the  mer- 
cantile class,  and  only  about  one-fourth  of  them  are 
Protestants.  The  remainder  represent  all  creeds  and 
races,  although  the  Mohammedan  bel'evers  are  few. 
More  than  three-fourths  of  the  students  pay  full 
tuition,  ranging  from  S40  to  $250  a  year,  according  to 
location  and  circumstances.  There  are  scholarships 
for  the  benefit  of  poor  students,  but  they  are  usually 
reserved  for  such  young  men  and  women  as  are  study- 
ing for  the  mission  work  and  for  teaching  in  the 
mission  schools. 

From  1856  to  1876,  from  the  Crimean  war  to  the 
reign  of  Abdul  Hamid  II.,  the  present  Sultan,  relig- 
ious liberty  prevailed  throughout  all  Turkey,  and, 
the  government  encouraging  Mohammedans  to  enter 
the  schools,  they  came  in  large  numbers.  But  under 
the  present  Sultan  the  policy  has  been  to  restrict  edu- 
cation and  keep  the  people  in  ignorance,  and  no 
Moslem  can  attend  a  Protestant  school  without 
rendering  himself  and  his  family  the  objects  of  sus- 
picion and  persecution  of  all  sorts.     The  father  may 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  atid  MISSIONARIES  151 

be  arrested  upon  false  charges,  sent  to  prison  and  his 
property  confiscated,  or  the  son  may  be  accused  of 
"discontent"  (a  crime  which  is  very  prevalent)  and  be 
sent  to  prison  for  months  or  years,  or  some  member  of 
the  family  may  be  charged  with  membership  in  the 
"Young  Turkey"  party,  which  is  an  offense  punishable 
by  death  or  banishment.  Any  of  these  things  is  likely 
to  occur  without  the  slightest  justification,  and  they 
are  intended  as  discipline  to  prevent  proselyting  by 
the  Protestants  among  Mohammedans,  and  to  make 
the  Protestant  schools  unpopular.  A  Christianized 
Mohammedan  cannot  live  in  Turkey.  He  is  com- 
pelled to  leave  the  country,  for  as  soon  as  the  fact  is 
known  he  is  either  assassinated  or  thrown  into  prison. 
Mohammedans  who  accept  Christianity  are  very  few. 
A  somewhat  notable  case  occurred  recently— per- 
haps two.  I  have  heard  two  versions  with  different 
names,  but  am  confident  they  refer  to  the  same  person. 
The  son  of  a  prominent  pasha  who  held  a  commis- 
sion in  the  Turkish  army  became  acquainted  with  an 
American  family  and  visited  them  frequently  for  the 
purpose  of  improving  his  English  conversation.  He 
became  quite  intimate  with  them,  accompanied  them 
to  church  and  read  books  on  religious  subjects  which 
were  loaned  by  them.  He  decided  to  formally 
renounce  the  religion  of  his  fathers  and  become  a 
Protestant,  but  was  compelled  to  leave  the  country  as 
soon  as  his  intentions  were  known.  If  his  father  had 
not  condemned  his  own  son  with  great  promptness  the 
entire  family  would  have  been  involved  in  danger. 
The  young  man  fled  on  an  English  ship,  reached  the 
United  States  about  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the 
Spanish  war,  enlisted  in  the  army,  served  through 
the  Santiago  campaign,  was  promoted  for  efificiency  and 


IC2     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 


has  since  been  appointed  a  second  lieutenant.  It  is 
impossible  for  him  to  return  to  Turkey.  He  would  be 
assassinated  by  some  fanatic  if  the  government  police 
did  not  get  him  first  and  arrest  him  upon  some  pretext. 
He  would  then  disappear  and  nobody  would  dare  ask 
questions  as  to  his  fate.  It  would  be  dangerous  to  do 
so.  This  case  is  known  to  every  Protestant  family  and 
throughout  the  upper  classes  of  Constantinople,  and 
all  other  examples  of  the  conversion  of  Moslems  are 
equally  familiar  because  they  are  so  few.  There  is, 
nevertheless,  a  good  deal  of  missionary  work  done  by 
the  Protestants  among  the  Mohammedans,  and  at  least 
5,000  copies  of  the  Bible  in  the  Turkish  language  are 
sold  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  every  year,  which  shows 
an  interest  among  the  people;  but  the  government 
officials  and  the  Mohammedan  priests  are  so  vigilant 
that  the  purchasers  would  not  be  willing  to  have  their 
names  known.  In  fact,  the  Bible  House  was  pro- 
hibited from  publishing  the  Bible  in  the  Turkish 
language  for  many  years  and  was  originally  compelled 
by  the  censor  to  print  upon  the  title  page  a  warning 
that  the  book  was  intended  for  Protestants  only. 

The  educational  system  of  the  Turks  is  not  entirely 
bad,  but  is  mostly  for  religious  instruction.  The 
mekteb,  or  primary  schools,  are  numerous,  and  afford 
every  boy  and  girl  in  the  city  an  opportunity  to  learn 
to  read  and  write  and  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the 
Koran.  Such  schools  are  attached  to  every  mosque  in 
the  empire.  The  ibtidaiych,  or  secondary  schools, 
afford  opportunities  for  learning  geography,  arith- 
metic, history  and  the  modern  languages,  but  there 
are  only  twenty  of  these  schools  in  all  Constantinople 
for  a  million  and  more  people.  The  mcdressch,  or 
colleges,   teach  philosophy,  logic,   rhetoric,   theology 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES   153 

and  Turkish  law,  and  generally  take  the  place  of  the 
universities  found  in  other  countries.  They  are  the 
highest  educational  institutions  maintained  by  the 
Turkish  government.  There  are  schools  of  law,  medi- 
cine, mines  and  forestry,  art,  and  a  manual-training 
establishment  supported  by  the  government,  with  nine 
large  institutions  for  military  and  naval  education. 
The  Greeks,  Armenians  and  Jews  each  have  their  own 
schools  connected  with  their  churches  and  maintained 
by  private  contributions.  Some  of  them  offer  a  high 
standard  of  education  and  have  fine  libraries. 

There  is  a  Protestant  college  for  girls  at  Scutari,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  Bosphorus,  which  offers  educa- 
tion for  young  women  and  has  an  average  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-five  pupils.  It  has  been  estab- 
lished for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  has  sent  out  a 
large  number  of  useful  teachers  of  nine  different 
nationalities,  who  are  now  engaged  throughout  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire  and  the  neighboring 
countries.  Miss  Mary  M.  Patrick,  the  president,  is 
assisted  by  a  faculty  of  six  American  professors  and 
fifteen  other  instructors.  You  must  not  think,  how- 
ever, that  the  Americans  are  the  only  people  who  are 
doing  good  in  an  educational  way  in  the  Sultan's 
dominions.  The  English,  the  Germans,  the  Swiss,  the 
French  and  the  Austrians  all  have  institutions  for  the 
education  of  the  natives,  more  or  less  supported  by 
charities. 

The  editor  of  a  Turkish  newspaper  is  surrounded  by 
numerous  embarrassments,  yet,  notwithstanding  the 
strict  censorship  to  which  it  is  subjected,  the  press 
exercises  a  much  wider  influence  than  it  is  given  credit 
for,  considering  that  the  first  newspaper  was  not  pub- 
lished, and  that  no  private  printing-ofifice  was  allowed 


154     77/^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

in  Turkey  until  during  the  Crimean  war.  There  are 
daily  papers  in  all  of  the  large  towns  of  the  interior. 
Each  vilayet,  or  province,  has  an  official  journal.  In 
Constantinople  the  newspapers  are  innumerable — polit- 
ical, religious,  literary,  scientific  and  commercial— and 
are  published  in  more  different  languages  than  in  any 
other  city  in  the  world.  There  are  papers  in  Arabic, 
Armenian,  Bulgarian,  English,  French,  German, 
Greek,  Hebrew,  Italian,  Syriac,  Persian,  Spanish  and 
in  three  different  dialects  of  the  Turkish  language. 
During  the  Crimean  war  papers  sprang  up  in  Constan- 
tinople like  mushrooms,  and  were  free  so  far  as  formal 
regulations  were  concerned  until  a  press  law  was  pro- 
mulgated in  1861,  under  which  the  publication  of 
articles  reflecting  upon  the  Sultan,  the  government, 
the  church,  the  police  and  other  officials  was  pro- 
hibited and  certain  political  and  religious  topics  were 
tabooed.  In  case  of  violation  of  the  law  the  respon- 
sible editor  was  punished  by  fine,  imprisonment  or  the 
suspension  of  his  newspaper. 

A  few  years  later  the  minister  of  the  interior 
assumed  arbitrary  authority  over  the  press,  and  when 
an  article  appeared  that  displeased  him  he  punished 
the  editor,  suppressed  the  paper  and  confiscated  the 
property  at  his  pleasure.  This  continued  until  about 
1886,  when  a  preventive  censorship  was  adopted  and  a 
press  bureau  was  added  to  the  private  cabinet  of  His 
Majesty  the  Sultan.  Representatives  of  this  bureau 
are  detailed  to  assist  the  editors  of  newspapers  and  are 
paid  by  them.  Liberality  is  a  matter  of  mutual  agree- 
ment. The  more  they  are  paid  the  less  trouble  they 
cause,  and  if  they  do  not  receive  as  much  as  they  want 
they  generally  find  means  to  revenge  themselves.  The 
censors  have  desks  in  the  newspaper  offices  and  proof 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES  155 

slips  of  every  article  must  be  submitted  for  their 
approval,  which  is  indicated  by  a  rubber  stamp  and 
signature.  The  proof  slips  thus  marked  are  carefully 
filed  away  for  the  protection  of  the  editor.  The 
censors  are  usually  incapable  of  forming  an  opinion  as 
to  the  merits  or  effect  of  a  political  ^or  economic 
article,  but  have  a  quick  eye  for  prohibited  subjects 
and  words.  Editors  very  soon  get  to  understand  them, 
and  by  the  exercise  of  a  little  tact  are  able  to  handle 
them  without  difficulty.  But  certain  rules  must  be 
observed.  Nobody,  of  course,  dare  speak  ill  of  the 
Sultan  or  of  his  government.  Everything  done  by 
them  must  be  approved;  foreign  relations  cannot  be 
touched  upon,  and  religious  discussions  must  be 
avoided  so  far  as  they  affect  Mohammedans.  Nothing 
can  appear  which  relates  to  political  revolutions, 
insurrections  or  disturbances  of  any  kind  in  other 
countries.  If  all  the  cabinets  in  Europe  should  resign, 
if  a  political  revolution  should  break  out  in  England 
and  King  Edward's  throne  should  be  overturned,  the 
fact  would  never  be  mentioned  in  a  Turkish  news- 
paper. No  particulars  of  the  assassinations  of  King 
Humbert  and  of  President  McKinley  were  printed — 
only  the  announcement  of  their  deaths,  which  the 
readers  would  infer  were  due  to  natural  causes.  It  is 
not  safe  to  let  the  discontented  element  in  Turkey 
know  that  kings  or  presidents  can  be  killed.  They 
might  take  a  hint. 

Nowhere  at  any  of  the  courts  of  Europe  do  the  dip- 
lomatic representatives  of  the  United  States  appear  to 
so  great  a  disadvantage  among  the  ambassadors  and 
ministers  of  other  Powers  as  at  Constantinople,  and 
Congress  should  do  something  to  improve  their  posi- 
tion for  the  dignity  and  honor  of  our  government.     If 


156     77/^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

there  should  be  trouble  at  the  Turkish  capital 
to-morrow  or  next  week — and  it  is  likely  to  occur  at 
any  time— the  American  minister,  the  members  of  his 
legation,  the  consul-general  and  his  staff  and  their 
families  would  be  compelled  to  take  refuge  at  the 
British  embassy.  They  might,  of  course,  go  to  the  Ger- 
man or  Russian  embassy,  but  our  relations  with  the 
British  are  more  intimate  there,  as  well  as  elsewhere, 
because  of  a  similarity  of  language  and  mutual  inter- 
ests. At  all  capitals  the  interests  of  citizens  of  the 
United  States  are  protected  by  the  representatives  of 
Great  Britain  when  our  own  ministers  are  absent,  and 
vice  versa,  and  the  records  of  our  legations  and  con- 
sulates are  always  intrusted  to  the  British  diplomatic 
and  consular  officials,  and  theirs  to  ours,  whenever 
necessary.  Our  minister  and  consul-general,  with 
their  secretaries  and  attaches,  would  be  welcome  at  the 
British  embassy,  which  has  often  extended  its  hospi- 
tality to  their  predecessors,  but  it  is  nevertheless  a 
humiliating  fact  that  they  are  dependent  upon  other 
nations  for  protection  when  Uncle  Sam  is  great 
enough  and  rich  enough  to  provide  for  his  own  agents  in 
foreign  countries. 

The  doctrine  of  extra-territoriality  prevails  in 
Turkey— that  is,  the  citizens  of  each  nation  residing 
there[arc  tried  for  offenses  according  to  their  own  laws, 
and  before  their  own  diplomatic  and  consular  repre- 
sentatives. It  does  not  matter  who  the  plaintiff  is. 
He  may  be  a  Turk  or  a  Dutchman;  the  nationality  of 
the  defendant  determines  the  court  and  the  law  by 
which  an  offense  shall  be  tried,  for  every  offense  he 
may  commit,  from  murder  down  to  petty  larceny. 
Hence  court  is  held  regularly  at  the  various  embassies 
and   legations,   petty  offenses   being  tried  before  the 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES   157 

consuls,  and  those  of  a  more  serious  character  before 
the  minister  or  ambassador.  The  Turkish  officials 
have  nothing  to  do  with  them. 

Turkish  law  is  founded  on  the  Koran,  the  teachings  of 
famous  Khalifs  and  other  disciples  of  Islam,  and  upon 
decisions  rendered  upon  questions  proposed  to  the 
Sheik-uI-Islam,  the  head  of  the  Moslem  Church,  who 
is  the  court  of  final  appeal  and  has  authority  to  over- 
rule all  magistrates.  The  teachings  of  the  Koran  and 
the  prophet  and  such  precedents,  maxims  and 
decisions  are  codified  and  published  in  a  volume 
divided  into  chapters  relating  to  commercial  affairs, 
penal  offenses,  etc.,  and  the  canon,  or  ecclesiastic,  and 
common  law.  To  them  are  added  the  firma?t3,  or  proc- 
lamations, of  the  Sultan,  which  permit  or  forbid 
certain  things  among  his  subjects,  and  the  regulations 
provided  by  the  police  authorities  which  generally 
stand  from  year  to  year.  The  kazasskers,  or  justices, 
as  we  would  call  them,  a  body  of  theologians,  jurists 
and  teachers  of  Moslem  law,  are  supposed  to  assist  the 
Sheik-ul-Islam  in  the  investigation  and  decision  of 
questions  of  law,  and  prepare  briefs  for  him  to  sign. 
There  is  also  a  court  known  as  the  Ulema,  of  minor 
jurisdiction. 

All  residents  of  Turkey  are  supposed  to  belong  to 
some  religious  society,  or  millet,  and  are  reached 
through  the  head  of  their  particular  community.  The- 
oretically each  millet  is  allowed  the  free  exercise  of 
religion,  the  management  of  its  own  monasteries, 
schools,  hospitals  and  charitable  institutions  and  in 
certain  cases  judicial  authority.  The  chief  millets  are 
Roman  Catholic,  Greek,  Orthodox,  Armenian,  Jewish, 
Protestant,  Bulgarian,  Maronite,  Nestorian  and  Greek 
Roman    Catholic;   and    each    citizen,    no    matter   how 


158    7%^  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

humble,  is  required  to  be  registered  as  a  member  of 
one  of  these  millets.  In  case  he  has  committed  an 
offense  he  has  the  nominal  right  to  appeal  to  the  head 
of  his  sect  for  protection,  and  on  the  other  hand 
the  patriarch  or  chief  of  each  millet  is  nominally  the 
medium  through  which  the  laws  and  orders  of  the 
Turkish  government  are  enforced;  but  this  is  purely 
theoretical.  Men  who  are  accused  of  crime  or  misde- 
meanor are  hauled  up  by  the  Turkish  police  and  cast 
into  prison  without  mercy  or  justice  and  remain  there 
until  their  friends  can  raise  money  enough  to  buy  them 
out  or  the  diplomatic  agent  of  their  government 
appears  to  protect  them. 

In  the  embassy  courts  no  account  is  taken  of  Turkish 
law  or  mode  of  procedure,  and  the  proceedings  are 
conducted  exactly  as  they  would  be  at  home.  Our 
consul-general  has  a  clerk  of  court,  a  United  States 
marshal  and  other  judicial  officers,  whose  powers  and 
duties  correspond  precisely  to  those  of  similar  officials 
at  home,  and  our  government  has  a  prison  also  for  the 
detention  of  offenders.  The  business  of  the  United 
States  court,  however,  is  very  small  compared  with 
that  of  other  legation  courts,  because  we  have  very 
few  citizens  in  Constantinople.  There  are  only  about 
two  hundred  Americans  in  Turkey  all  told,  and  they 
are  mostly  missionaries,  who  do  not  often  appear  in 
the  consular  courts.  But  some  of  the  embassies — the 
Russian,  the  German,  Austrian  and  French — do  con- 
siderable business. 

Each  of  the  European  Powers,  even  Holland  and 
Belgium,  has  a  handsome  residence  and  legation 
building.  The  German  embassy  is  one  of  the  finest 
edifices  in  Constantinople.  None  but  the  palaces  of 
the  Sultan  exceed  it  in  dimensions  or  pretensions.     It 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES 


159 


stands  in  a  conspicuous  place  and  may  be  seen  from 
all  parts  of  the  city.  The  Russian  embassy  is  an  enor- 
mous building,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall,  and  has  a 
hospital  connected  with  it.  The  British  embassy  is 
also  a  fine  building.  Our  minister  usually  has  to  live 
in  a  hotel  because  it  is  always  difificult  and  often 
impossible  to  rent  a  suitable  residence.  At  present 
only  one  house  in  Constantinople  fit  for  the  purpose 
can  be  secured.  It  belongs  to  an  Italian  nobleman 
who  has  returned  to  his  former  home  in  Italy,  and 
stands  in  one  of  the  most  convenient  and  desirable 
sections  of  the  city,  but  the  cellar  is  full  of  water  and 
cannot  be  kept  dry.  The  walls  are  saturated  with 
moisture,  and  hence  the  prospect  of  leasing  it  is  not 
good.  Usually  the  United  States  minister  rents  a  res- 
idence at  Therepia,  a  suburban  town  a  few  miles  up 
the  Bosphorus,  where  several  of  the  European  govern- 
ments have  legations  for  the  use  of  their  representa- 
tives during  the  hot  season,  when  the  heat  and  the 
filth  make  it  impossible  for  them  to  live  in  the  city. 
On  the  first  of  July  the  entire  diplomatic  corps  moves 
en  masse  from  Constantinople  to  Therepia  and  remains 
there  until  the  first  of  November,  when  it  is  again  safe 
to  return.  The  ambassadors  or  their  secretaries  come 
to  town  nearly  every  day  for  the  transaction  of  neces- 
sary business  and  to  communicate  with  the  ofificials  of 
the  government,  and  are  provided  with  yachts  for  the 
journeyc  Our  government  is  the  only  one  of  impor- 
tance which  does  not  have  a  yacht  for  the  use  of  its 
minister  lying  at  anchor  near  the  custom-house. 
During  the  summer  months  he  is  permitted  to  lease  a 
little  steam  launch,  but  at  the  close  of  the  season  it  is 
sent  back  to  its  owner. 
These  yachts  have,   however,   a   purpose   which    is 


i6o    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

much  more  important,  but  it  is  not  often  mentioned. 
The  condition  of  affairs  in  Turkey  is  similar  to  that  in 
China,  and  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  are 
exposed  at  all  times  to  the  same  dangers  that  imperiled 
the  legations  at  Peking  two  years  ago.  When  a  mob 
of  Moslems,  whose  religion  teaches  them  that  it  is 
their  duty  to  kill  Christians,  takes  possession  of  the 
city  of  Constantinople,  it  does  not  distinguish  between 
foreigners.  All  persons  who  do  not  profess  the 
Moslem  faith  are  infidels  and  must  die,  no  matter 
whether  they  are  Armenians  or  English  or  Austrians, 
and  the  police  and  other  officials  have  no  means  of 
controlling  or  directing  the  ignorant  and  fanatical 
Turks.  It  is  considered  necessary,  therefore,  that  the 
members  of  the  different  embassies  and  legations 
should  have  means  of  escape  always  at  hand,  and 
hence  the  long  line  of  steam  yachts  anchored  at  a  con- 
venient situation  near  the  foreign  quarter  of  the  city. 
Germany,  Russia,  England,  France,  Austria  and  Italy 
always  have  gunboats  anchored  in  the  Bosphorus  as 
an  additional  protection.  The  Turkish  government 
requires  them  to  be  small.  As  a  rule  it  will  not  permit 
a  foreign  man-of-war  to  pass  the  Dardanelles,  but 
these  guard-boats,  as  they  are  called,  are  admitted  to 
be  necessary  by  the  police  themselves,  and  by  special 
treaty  provision  are  allowed  to  anchor  off  the  city. 
Public  confidence  in  the  government  is  so  small  that 
nearly  all  the  European  nations  have  their  own  mail 
service.  The  British,  German,  French,  Austrians  and 
Russians  have  distinct  and  separate  postofficcs,  because 
the  subjects  of  those  nations  residing  in  Turkey  can- 
not trust  the  Turkish  mails.  This  is  done  with  the 
consent  of  the  Sultan,  and  is  regulated  by  treaty 
stipulations.     The  postoffices  are  open  to  the  public 


ROBERT  COLLEGE  and  MISSIONARIES  i6i 

and  can  be  used  by  anyone.  The.  mail  is  put  into 
bags,  sealed  and  shipped  by  railroad  to  the  nearest 
convenient  point  within  the  territory  of  the  nation 
interested.  The  British  mail  goes  to  London,  the 
French  mail  to  Marseilles,  the  Austrian  to  Budapest 
and  the  Russian  to  Odessa.  The  seals  are  broken  at 
those  places,  and  the  contents  of  the  bags  are  turned 
over  to  the  regular  postal  ofificials.  At  the  British 
postofifice  British  stamps  are  sold,  surcharged  with  the 
value  in  Turkish  money.  The  same  is  true  of  all  the 
other  postoffices. 

Tourists  can  no  longer  visit  the  great  "Cistern  of  the 
1,001  Pillars,"  which  was  formerly  one  of  the  most 
interesting  objects  in  Constantinople.  It  was  built  in 
the  time  of  Constantine  for  the  purpose  of  storing 
water,  is  one  hundred  and  ninety-five  feet  long,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-seven  feet  wide  and  twenty-seven 
feet  deep.  The  roof  is  sustained  by  a  vast  forest  of 
columns,  and  it  is  the  popular  notion  that  they  number 
one  more  than  a  thousand.  It  is  estimated  that  the 
cistern  formerly  held  enough  water  to  supply  the  pop- 
ulation of  Stamboul  for  ten  days,  but  it  has  not  been 
used  since  1850  for  that  purpose.  Constantinople  has 
an  excellent  water  system  carried  in  aqueducts  running 
to  various  quarters  of  the  city.  For  many  years  this 
and  several  other  great  cisterns,  having  been  pumped 
out,  were  used  for  storage  of  government  supplies,  but 
of  late  they  have  been  practically  abandoned,  and 
certain  Armenian  manufacturers  of  rope,  carpets  and 
other  articles  which  required  more  room  than  light, 
have  been  using  them  rent  free,  because  of  their  large 
size  and  other  advantages.  During  the  massacre  of 
1896,  however,  the  Turkish  mob  surprised  the  Arme- 
nians at  work  in  this  cistern  and  killed  between  sixty 


i62     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

and  seventy  in  cold  blood.  Their  bodies  were  allowed 
to  remain  in  the  cistern  unburied  and  are  there  still. 
Hence  it  is  not  an  agreeable  place  to  visit. 

Two  thousand  children,  orphans  of  people  who  lost 
their  lives  in  that  massacre,  are  employed  in  a  carpet 
factory  in  the  suburbs  of  Constantinople. 


PART   II 

Bulgaria 


163 


PART  II 

BULGARIA 
IX 

RECENT   HISTORY  AND  POLITICS 

In  the  early  days,  at  the  time  of  that  great  soldier, 
Philip  of  Macedon,  the  name  of  Thrace  was  applied  to 
the  whole  district  south  of  the  Danube.  It  was  inhab- 
ited by  a  savage  race,  which  Philip  and  his  successor, 
Alexander,  brought  under  subjection  and  incorporated 
into  their  empire.  Early  in  the  Christian  era  the 
Emperor  Vespasian  conquered  the  country,  and  it 
became  a  Roman  province,  and  remained  such  until 
the  horde  of  eastern  barbarians  swept  up  the  valley  of 
the  Danube  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century. 
Among  them  were  the  Bulgari,  an  Asiatic  clan,  who 
remained  in  possession  of  the  Balkan  Mountain  region 
and  gave  it  their  name.  During  subsequent  centuries 
they  founded  the  great  Bulgarian  Empire,  which 
attained  the  zenith  of  its  power  during  the  reign  of 
the  Czar  Simeon  (893-927  A. D.),  but  fell  under  Byzan- 
tine rule  in  the  eleventh  century. 

The  first  appearance  of  Russia  in  the  affairs  of  Bul- 
garia was  a  most  important  event,  for  it  has  affected 
the  politics  of  the  country  until  this  very  day.  One 
August  morning  in  the  year  967  A.D.  10,000  men  landed 
from  a  Russian  fleet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Danube. 
They  were  led  by  a  valiant  and  hardy  warrior  named 
Sviatoslav,  whose  food  was  horseflesh  and  whose  bed 

165 


i66    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

was  a  bearskin  laid  upon  the  ground.  Since  then  the 
Russians,  by  reason  of  racial  and  religious  relationship, 
have  claimed  the  right  to  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  the 
country,  and  no  nation  has  shown  greater  sympathy 
with  the  unhappy  people  who  have  suffered  so  much 
from  Turkish  oppression. 

The  balance  of  power  in  Europe  prevents  the  annex- 
ation of  the  Balkan  States  to  the  Russian  Empire. 
Austria  and  Germany  will  not  permit  the  Czar  to 
extend  his  boundaries  to  the  Mediterranean,  but  no 
power  has  yet  been  able  to  counteract  the  Russian 
influence  in  Bulgarian  politics  or  prevent  the  Bul- 
garians from  appealing  to  the  Great  White  Bear  when 
they  are  in  danger  or  distress.  Russian  influence  is 
paramount  in  Bulgaria  to-day,  not  only  because  of 
affection,  but  for  two  other  reasons:  In  the  first  place, 
the  people  are  not  strong  enough  to  resist  it,  and  in 
the  second  place,  it  is  important  for  the  Bulgarians  to 
cultivate  the  friendship  of  their  powerful  neighbor  in 
anticipation  of  events  which  may  occur  at  any  time. 
To  no  other  source  can  they  look  for  assistance. 

In  the  twelfth  century  occurred  the  second  Russian 
invasion  of  Bulgaria,  which  was  so  general  as  to  cause 
a  fusion  of  races  and  the  adoption  of  the  Slav  language 
and  religion,  which  has  been  used  by  Russia  as  a 
pretext  for  exercising  a  protectorate  over  southeastern 
Europe.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  Turks  drove 
the  Russians  out,  and  in  1389  the  country  was  brought 
completely  under  Ottoman  rule,  which  continued  until 
the  close  of  the  Russo-Turkish  war  in  1877-78.  The 
pretext  for  that  war  was  the  protection  of  the  members 
of  the  Greek  Church  against  the  cruelties  and  persecu- 
tions of  the  Turkish  officials,  and  Mr.  Gladstone, 
although    out    of    power    at    the    time    in    England, 


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'^1 

RECENT  HISTORY   'ND  POLITICS      167 

undoubtedly  did  more  to  bring  it  about  than  any  other 
influence,  by  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  entitled 
'The  Bulgarian  Atrocities."  With  fervid  eloquence 
he  described  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians,  and 
Eugene  Schuyler,  then  United  States  consul-general 
at  Constantinople,  prepared  a  report  which  furnished 
the  facts  to  sustain  the  appeal  of  Mr.  Gladstone  in 
awakening  sympathy  and  indignation  throughout  the 
civilized  world.  The  state  of  public  feeling  justified 
Alexander  II.  of  Russia  in  undertaking  to  protect  and 
avenge  the  victims  of  Moslem  cruelty,  who  professed 
the  same  religion  and  spoke  almost  the  same  language 
as  himself.  While  the  motives  of  the  Russian  govern- 
ment may  not  have  been  entirely  disinterested,  the 
crusade  was  so  just  that  public  opinion  overlooked  the 
fact  that  it  had  been  striving  several  hundred  years  to 
annex  European  Turkey  to  its  own  great  empire  and 
make  Constantinople  its  southern  capital. 

Alexander  II.  was  a  humane  man.  He  emancipated 
40,000,000  of  serfs,  and,  if  his  life  had  been  spared  a 
few  years  longer,  he  would  have  given  the  Russian 
people  a  liberal  allowance  of  self-government  and 
transformed  an  autocratic  despotism  into  a  constitu- 
tional monarchy.  The  Bulgarians  worship  his  memory. 
They  have  erected  a  monument  in  his  honor,  and  have 
called  their  principal  park  by  his  name.  His  portrait 
may  be  seen  in  the  cabins  of  the  peasants  as  well  as  in 
the  palace  of  the  reigning  prince.  At  every  stationer's 
and  news-stand,  in  every  shop  where  postage  stamps 
are  sold,  postal  cards  bearing  his  picture  over  the  title 
"Liberator  of  Bulgaria"  may  be  purchased.  More  of 
them  are  sold  than  of  any  other  variety  and  this  devo- 
tion and  gratitude  has  continued  for  nearly  a  quarter 
of  a  century.     One  of  the  principal  streets  of  Sofia  is 


i68    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

named  in  honor  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  his  portrait  is 
also  printed  on  postal  cards,  although  I  saw  no  recog- 
nition of  Mr.  Schuyler's  services  to  that  country. 

The  blood  that  was  spilled  in  behalf  of  Bulgaria  in 
the  siege  of  Plevna  and  in  the  defense  of  Shipka  Pass 
was  not  shed  in  vain;  and,  as  the  price  of  peace, 
Russia  demanded  and  Turkey  consented  in  the  Treaty 
of  San  Stefano  that  Bulgaria  and  Macedonia,  known 
on  the  map  as  Rumelia,  should  be  independent  of 
the  Sultan's  authority.  But  the  other  jealous  Powers 
of  Europe  unfortunately  interfered  with  this  arrange- 
ment, and,  at  a  conference  in  Berlin,  created  a  new 
nation  called  Bulgaria,  defining  its  limits  as  they 
appear  upon  current  maps,  but  leaving  out  Macedonia 
and  providing  that  it  should  be  under  "the  direct 
political  and  military  authority  of  the  Sultan"  with  a 
Christian  governor-general.  It  was  also  stipulated 
that  religious  freedom  and  tolerance  should  be  guaran- 
teed by  the  Turks,  and  that  the  people  of  the  various 
provinces  should  have  the  privilege  of  electing  their 
own  magistrates  and  enacting  their  own  laws,  subject 
to  the  general  approval  of  the  imperial  authorities  at 
Constantinople.  Various  other  important  reforms 
were  also  promised  by  the  Sultan  affecting  taxation, 
the  protection  of  personal  and  property  rights,  and 
the  general  welfare  of  the  people.  If  these  pledges 
and  stipulations  had  been  carried  out  according  to  the 
letter  of  the  treaty,  Rumelia  would  be  a  happy,  pros- 
perous and  peaceful  country  to-day,  but  the  Powers  at 
Berlin  must  have  known  that  the  Sultan  of  Turkey 
never  kept  a  promise,  and  probably  never  will,  and  the 
childlike  faith  with  which  they  accepted  his  profuse 
assurances  of  reform  is  the  most  astonishing  phenom- 
enon in  political  history. 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      169 

When  the  great  Powers  met  at  Berlin  after  the  close 
of  the  Russo-Turkish  war,  they  told  the  oeoplc  of  Bul- 
garia that  they  might  thereafter  manage  their  own 
affairs  and  select  their  own  king,  subject  to  the 
approval  of  the  Sultan.  They  were  required  to  pay 
him  annual  tribute  in  lieu  of  the  taxes  which  he  used 
to  collect  in  Bulgaria,  but  the  amount  was  not  defi- 
nitely fixed,  and  the  financial  relations  of  the  two 
countries  are  in  a  hopeless  muddle,  and  will  some 
time  require  an  International  commission  to  adjust 
them.  Bulgaria  was  also  held  responsible  for  a  share 
of  the  Turkish  national  debt,  but  it  has  never  been 
definitely  apportioned.  As  soon  as"  their  neighbors 
had  decided  what  the  Bulgarians  must  do,  an  election 
was  ordered,  and  a  legislative  assembly  chosen  under 
the  supervision  of  Russian  soldiers,  who  interfered 
more  or  less  at  the  polls,  and  endeavored  to  influence 
the  voting  by  bulldozing,  moral  suasion,  gilded 
promises  and  other  inducements.  A  curious  constitu- 
tion was  also  prepared  by  a  shrewd  Russian  politician 
and  adopted  by  the  people,  although  very  few  of  them 
were  able  to  comprehend  it.  In  fact,  nobody  pretends 
to  understand  the  document,  and  it  was  evidently 
intended  to  be  ambiguous. 

After  a  good  deal  of  conferring  and  correspondence 
the  national  assembly  selected  as  their  sovereign 
Prince  Alexander  of  Battenberg,  a  man  of  twenty- 
four,  then  holding  a  commission  as  lieutenant  upon 
the  staff  of  his  great-uncle,  Kaiser  Wilhelm  of  Ger- 
many, and  stationed  at  Potsdam.  Alexander  was 
directly  or  indirectly  connected  with  several  of  the 
reigning  families  of  Europe,  and  was  therefore  believed 
to  be  impartial.  He  was  a  nephew  of  the  Czar  of 
Russia,   and   his  brother  Henry  was   the  husband  of 


170    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Queen  Victoria's  daughter  Beatrice.  He  was  a  great 
favorite  with  everybody,  because  of  his  amiable  dispo- 
sition, his  frank  and  brave  nature  and  his  sterling 
integrity.  The  people  of  Bulgaria  gave  him  a  cordial 
welcome,  and  he  commenced  a  series  of  reforms,  said 
to  have  been  recommended  by  Prince  Bismarck,  who 
took  great  interest  in  his  career.  He  proved  to  be  a 
good  king,  unselfish,  warm-hearted,  patriotic  and 
ambitious  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  people  whose 
destiny  he  was  selected  to  control.  But  he  was  too 
frank  and  honest  to  cope  with  the  conspirators  by 
whom  he  was  surrounded.  The  Bulgarians  had  been 
under  Turkish  bondage  for  five  centuries,  and  were 
unfitted  to  govern  themselves,  like  all  people  who 
have  been  subject  to  tyranny.  They  were  even  worse 
than  the  Cubans  or  the  Filipinos.  Bismarck  said  they 
"had  been  put  into  the  saddle  before  they  learned  to 
ride."  The  situation  was  aggravated  by  the  jealousy 
of  the  surrounding  nations — Germany,  Austria,  Russia, 
Turkey  and  Greece — which  were  inclined  to  use  Bul- 
garia as  a  football  in  their  political  games.  Russia 
was  disappointed  and  vindictive  because  the  other 
Powers  had  not  permitted  her  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of 
her  victory  over  the  Turks  and  was  determined  to 
recover  control  of  Bulgaria  by  intrigue,  which  has 
been  done. 

The  lack  of  educated  natives  in  Bulgaria  made  it 
necessary  to  fill  nearly  all  of  the  important  military 
and  civil  offices  with  foreigners,  and  the  Russians 
obtained  the  most  influential  places.  Clever  men 
were  sent  from  St.  Petersburg  to  cultivate  public  senti- 
ment and  by  mercenary  and  other  means  to  influence 
the  elections.  The  parliament,  or  Sobranje,  as  it  is 
called,  consists  of  a  single  chamber,   elected    by   the 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      171 

votes  of  all  citizens  who  can  read  and  write.  The 
ministry  are  absolutely  independent  of  the  chamber, 
and  no  parliamentary  action  can  upset  them.  They 
are  responsible  only  to  the  ruling  prince,  who  also  has 
entire  authority  to  appoint  and  dismiss  the  officers  of 
the  army  and  the  civil  service.  The  only  way  the 
Sobranje  can  control  him  is  by  withholding  appropria- 
tions, and  in  case  of  a  deadlock  with  the  sovereign 
there  is  no  one  to  decide. 

Bulgaria,  without  the  slightest  experience  or  prepa- 
ration, was  suddenly  transformed  into  an  independent 
state,  with  the  machinery  of  the  government  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  foreigners,  who  were  not  only  jealous, 
but  hostile  towards  each  other. 

People  say  that  Alexander  lacked  judgment  and  dis- 
cretion; that  he  talked  too  much;  that  he  was  no 
diplomatist;  that  he  quarreled  with  his  advisers;  that 
he  was  lamentably  deficient  in  the  arts  of  the  politi- 
cian, and  was  too  liberal  and  lenient  to  govern  a 
country  which  had  never  known  any  ruler  but  a 
despot.  This  is  probably  true.  If  Alexander  could 
have  had  a  sagacious  and  experienced  statesman  to 
guide  him,  he  might  have  had  a  different  fate.  But, 
under  his  brief  administration,  Bulgaria  made  extraor- 
dinary progress,  and  if  he  had  been  allowed  to 
remain  upon  the  throne,  by  this  time  it  would  have 
advanced  to  a  gratifying  position  among  nations. 
When  he  came  to  Sofia  the  entire  country  was  in  a 
state  of  anarchy,  a  hundred  times  worse  than  Cuba 
after  the  Spanish  war.  The  people  had  been  suffering 
horrors  that  shocked  the  civilized  world,  and  had  been 
oppressed  by  cruelty  that  cannot  be  described.  Being 
exasperated  into  resistance,  their  oppressors  pun- 
ished   them  with    sword  and    torch.     The  number   of 


172    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

victims  is  unknown.  The  British  minister,  who  made 
an  investigation,  declared  that  not  less  than  12,000 
persons  were  massacred  in  a  single  month  by  the 
Turks.  Eugene  Schuyler,  the  American  consul  then  at 
Constantinople,  put  the  number  at  15,000.  The  coun- 
try had  been  in  a  state  of  chronic  revolution  for 
several  years  and  the  theater  of  a  war  between  two 
pow^erful  nations  whose  armies  foraged  upon  the  farms, 
burned  the  cities  and  left  desolate  a  large  portion  of 
the  territory.  Most  of  the  population  had  fled  to  the 
mountains  from  their  burning  homes,  and  many  of 
them  were  too  poor  and  discouraged  to  repair  damages 
when  peace  was  restored. 

In  attempting  to  regenerate  this  distracted  nation, 
Alexander  of  Battenberg  undertook  a  task  more  diffi- 
cult than  was  attempted  by  any  other  man  of  his  gen- 
eration. He  endeavored  to  build  up  a  new  nation  out 
of  heterogeneous  materials,  and  had  little  assistance 
but  much  interference  from  the  Powers  that  had 
intrusted  him  with  the  work.  He  is  one  of  the  most 
romantic  figures  in  modern  European  history.  His 
frank  and  cheerful  nature,  his  social  charms,  his  per- 
sonal courage  upon  the  field  of  battle  and  his  heroic 
attempts  to  overcome  the  impossible  won  for  him  the 
enduring  affection  of  the  common  people  and  all 
patriotic  spirits  in  Bulgaria,  who  recognized  that  he 
had  no  motive  but  their  good.  The  same  qualities, 
however,  made  him  bitter  and  relentless  enemies.  He 
was  surrounded  by  ambitious  and  avaricious  adven- 
turers and  corrupt  officials  whom  he  dismissed  the 
moment  he  discovered  their  misconduct.  He  was  a 
poor  judge  of  a  rascal.  He  was  so  honest  and  can- 
did himself  that  he  could  not  detect  the  insincerity 
of  others.     He  might  have  overcome  these  obstacles 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      173 

and  defeated  the  conspiracies  that  were  constantly- 
formed  against  him  if  Alexander  II.  of  Russia,  whose 
assassination  was  a  sad  blow  to  Bulgaria  as  well  as  to 
his  own  people,  had  lived.  He  had  great  confidence 
in  his  nephew.  Prince  Alexander,  loved  him  like  his 
own  son  and  supported  him  in  every  direction,  even 
against  the  intrigues  of  Russian  politicians  who  had 
been  sent  to  Sofia  to  control  the  government.  The 
people  of  Bulgaria  loved  him  and  still  call  him  their 
"Liberator." 

Alexander  III.,  for  some  reason  or  other,  never 
liked  his  cousin  of  Battenberg,  and  soon  after  ascend- 
ing the  throne  called  him  to  account  for  his  anti- 
Russian  policy  in  Bulgaria.  The  explanation  was 
unsatisfactory.  Alexander  said  he  was  endeavoring 
to  administer  affairs  for  the  best  interests  of  the 
people  themselves  without  regard  to  foreign  complica- 
tions. His  liberality  was  too  great  to  please  the  Czar. 
He  was  a  Protestant  and  encouraged  education  to  an 
extent  that  was  not  appreciated  by  the  clergy  of  the 
Greek  Church.  He  granted  freedom  to  the  press, 
which  encouraged  the  democratic  spirit  of  the  people 
and  strengthened  the  Liberal  party  in  politics,  which 
was  anti-Russian  in  its  tendencies  and  even  advo- 
cated a  republican  form  of  government.  Failing  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  Czar,  Alexander  found 
he  was  no  longer  allowed  to  be  master  in  his  own 
house,  and  that  the  Russian  officials  who  surrounded 
him  were  taking  their  orders  from  St.  Petersburg 
rather  than  from  their  own  sovereign.  He  attempted 
to  dismiss  them  and  asserted  his  independence  by 
filling  their  positions  with  native  Liberals  upon  whom 
he  could  rely.  The  Russians  retaliated  by  one  of  the 
most  scandalous  and  shameful  conspiracies   that  has 


174     77/^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

ever  occurred  in  political  history.  It  might  have 
happened  in  the  Middle  Ages,  in  the  days  of  the 
robber  barons  and  the  Medicis,  but  there  is  nothing  to 
compare  with  it  in  modern  times. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  21,  1886, 
Prince  Alexander  was  aroused  from  his  slumbers  by 
his  valet,  who  thrust  a  revolver  into  his  hand  and 
begged  him  to  flee  through  an  open  window.  But  the 
prince  was  a  man  to  face  danger,  and,  partially 
dressing  himself,  stepped  into  an  ante-room  where  he 
found  a  crowd  of  Russian  officers,  some  of  whom  he 
had  recently  dismissed  from  their  positions,  and 
others  still  in  the  employment  of  the  government. 
They  coolly  informed  him  that  he  had  the  option  to 
choose  between  death  and  abdication.  A  Russian 
officer  tore  a  blank  page  out  of  the  visitors'  book  that 
lay  upon  the  table  and  attempted  to  write  an  abdica- 
tion, but  he  was  too  drunk  to  do  so.  A  young  cadet 
from  the  military  academy  took  the  pen  and  wrote  a 
few  incoherent  words  at  his  dictation.  With  five 
revolvers  pointing  at  his  head,  Alexander  calmly  read 
the  document  and  remarked  sarcastically: 

"Gentlemen,  you  shall  have  your  way,"  and  wrote 
in  German  the  words,  "God  protect  Bulgaria.  Alex- 
ander." 

A  few  moments  later  he  was  hustled  into  a  carriage 
and,  guarded  by  an  escort  of  Russian  ofificers  and 
cadets  from  the  military  academy,  which  was  in  their 
charge,  he  was  driven  at  a  gallop  seventeen  miles  to  a 
monastery,  where,  after  a  few  hours'  rest,  an  exchange 
of  horses  was  made  and  he  was  hurried  over  the 
Balkan  Mountains  to  the  Danube  River  and  placed 
upon  a  yacht. 

The  conspirators  at  Sofia,  with  the  aid  of  the  Metro- 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      175 

politan,  or  archbishop,  of  the  Greek  Church,  proclaimed 
a  provisional  government;  but  Stambouloff,  the  young 
president  of  the  parliament,  who  was  equal  to  the  emer- 
gency, declared  them  to  be  outlaws,  appealed  to  the 
Bulgarians  to  defend  the  throne  against  the  Russian 
conspirators,  and  persuaded  the  parliament  to  appoint 
him  regent  until  Prince  Alexander  could  be  restored. 
It  was  several  days  before  the  latter  could  be  found. 
In  the  meantime  he  was  concealed  upon  the  yacht  on 
the  Danube  River.  When  the  facts  became  known 
throughout  Europe  the  Russians  were  compelled  by 
public  sentiment  to  surrender  him,  and  the  Czar  made 
desperate  efforts  to  exculpate  himself  from  the  respon- 
sibility. Nevertheless,  not  one  of  the  Russian  officials 
who  were  engaged  in  the  plot  was  ever  punished  or 
even  censured. 

Prince  Alexander  returned  to  Sofia  in  triumph,  and 
was  enthusiastically  welcomed  by  the  people;  but, 
with  characteristic  frankness,  immediately  telegraphed 
the  Czar: 

"I  received  my  crown  from  Russia.  I  am  ready  to 
return  it  to  the  hands  of  her  sovereign  whenever  it  is 
demanded." 

The  Czar  at  once  replied,  as  might  have  been 
expected,  expressing  disapproval  of  the  return  of 
Alexander  to  Bulgaria  and  censuring  his  administra- 
tion of  affairs.  In  vain  Stambouloff  and  other  Bul- 
garians implored  their  prince  to  remain  and  defy 
Russia,  and  even  threatened  to  prevent  him  by  force 
from  abdication,  but  Alexander  declared  that  his  use- 
fulness was  ended,  and  that  it  was  the  only  wise 
course  for  him  to  retire  and  save  the  country  from 
a  war  with  Russia.  Before  doing  so,  however,  he 
exacted  a  pledge  from  the  Czar  that  he  would  permit  the 


176     77^^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Bulgarians  to  manage  their  own  affairs  without  inter- 
ference— a  pledge  that  was  violated  within  the  next 
thirty  days,  and  has  never  been  kept  in  any  respect. 
Then,  appointing  a  regency,  Alexander  formally 
abdicated  authority  and  left  the  country  with  the 
affection  and  confidence  of  the  people.  He  went  to 
Austria,  where  he  remained  in  retirement,  under  the 
title  of  Count  Hartenau,  until  his  death  in  1893. 

When  Alexander  abdicated  it  was  necessary  for  the 
Bulgarians  to  choose  another  king,  and  they  selected 
Prince  Waldemar  of  Denmark,  a  brother  of  the  Queen 
of  Great  Britain,  the  dowager  Czarina  of  Russia  and 
the  King  of  Greece;  but,  rather  than  risk  a  quarrel 
with  his  big  brother-in-law  at  St.  Petersburg,  who  had 
compelled  Alexander  to  throw  down  the  crown,  Wal- 
demar declined  the  honor,  and  a  committee  was  sent 
from  Sofia  to  the  various  capitals  of  Europe  to  find  a 
proper  man.  In  the  meantime  Stambouloff,  president 
of  the  Sobranje,  or  parliament,  ruled  the  country  as 
regent,  and  his  policy  was  openly  and  defiantly  anti- 
Russian.  The  Czar  sent  down  two  commissioners  to 
take  the  state  in  hand.  Stambouloff  treated  them 
respectfully,  but  declined  to  obey  their  orders.  Two 
Russian  men-of-war  soon  after  appeared  in  the  harbor 
of  Varna,  the  principal  seaport  of  Bulgaria,  but  even 
that  did  not  intimidate  Stambouloff,  and  the  Russians, 
becoming  disgusted,  recalled  all  of  their  countrymen 
who  were  holding  official  and  military  positions,  and 
even  their  minister  and  consuls,  leaving  Bulgaria  to  its 
fate.  What  Alexander  III.  expected  to  happen  it  is 
difficult  to  determine.  He  probably  believed  that 
anarchy  would  follow  and  furnish  him  an  excuse  for 
occupying  Bulgaria  with  an  army,  but  the  country 
remained  at  peace.     Stambouloff  proved  to  be  not  only 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      177 

an  able  but  a  satisfactory  ruler,  and  he  carried  out  the 
policy  of  the  deposed  Alexander  of  Battenberg  in  an 
able  and  enlightened  manner. 

Stepan  Stambouloff  was  undoubtedly  the  ablest  man 
that  has  appeared  upon  the  Balkan  Peninsula  for 
several  centuries,  and  one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
characters  of  his  generation.  Although  his  faults  were 
conspicuous,  his  patriotism  was  never  questioned. 
His  integrity  of  purpose  shines  out  like  a  planet 
among  the  vacillating  and  cowardly  politicians  who 
surrounded  him.  He  was  born  at  the  little  town  of 
Tirnovo,  the  son  of  a  humble  innkeeper,  and  was  edu- 
cated at  an  ordinary  country  school.  He  came  into 
prominence  during  the  revolution  against  Turkish 
authority  previous  to  the  Russo-Turkish  war,  and, 
although  barely  of  age,  emerged  from  that  struggle 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  influential  of  the 
Bulgarian  patriots.  Although  the  new  constitution 
required  a  man  to  be  thirty  years  old  to  be  eligible  to 
the  Sobrajije,  he  was  an  active  member  of  that  body 
before  he  was  twenty-three,  and  its  president  before  he 
was  twenty-five,  and  he  occupied  that  position  contin- 
uously until  he  became  prime  minister  in  1887  at  the 
age  of  thirty-three  years.  He  was  remarkable  for  his 
courage,  firmness  and  determination;  he  was  a  natural 
ruler  of  men  and  always  exercised  a  remarkable  influ- 
ence over  every  person  who  came  in  contact  with  him. 
It  used  to  be  said  that  his  enemies  were  always  his 
friends  so  long  as  they  remained  in  his  presence.  He 
was  gifted  with  the  highest  degree  of  skill  as  a  politi- 
cian, and  would  have  been  a  political  dictator  if  he 
had  lived  in  a  republic.  Among  the  ignorant  and 
inexperienced  population  of  Bulgaria  he  was  able  to 
exercise   an    influence    that    was    absolute,    and    the 


178    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Sobraiije  was  almost  unanimous  in  his  support.  No 
doubt  Stambouloff's  methods  were  often  questionable. 
He  believed  that  the  end  justified  the  means,  and 
never  hesitated  to  employ  any  measures  he  thought 
necessary  to  accomplish  a  purpose.  He  was  arbitrary, 
cruel  and  vindictive.  The  savage  nature  of  the  Bul- 
garian mountaineers,  from  whom  he  came,  frequently 
appeared  in  his  manners  and  disposition.  He  lacked 
polish  and  was  indifferent  to  suffering;  but  his  entire 
career  is  an  example  of  unselfish  integrity.  He 
devoted  his  life  and  his  talents  to  promoting  the 
welfare  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  and  never  asked  an 
advantage  for  himself.  He  died  poorer  than  he  was 
born,  although  for  seven  years  he  was  in  absolute 
control  of  the  Bulgarian  finances  and  for  ten  years 
previous  was  able  to  command  anything  in  the  way  of 
remuneration  that  he  desired. 

Recognizing  that  public  sentiment  in  Europe  would 
not  approve  an  empty  throne  in  Bulgaria,  Stambouloff 
dispatched  a  deputation  to  find  a  king.  They  made 
advances  to  several  cadets  of  the  royal  houses,  but 
found  it  very  difificult  to  select  a  man  of  proper  quali- 
fications who  was  not  so  involved  by  ties  of  relation- 
ship as  to  excite  jealousy  among  the  great  Powers. 
The  story  goes  that  they  were  on  their  way  back  to 
Bulgaria  when  they  met  an  acquaintance  in  a  beer 
garden  at  Vienna.  Learning  their  business,  he 
remarked: 

"That  young  officer  sitting  at  the  table  yonder  is 
just  the  man  you  want.  He  is  Ferdinand  of  Saxe- 
Coburg  and  Gotha,  grandson  of  Louis  Philippe  of 
France,  and  a  cousin  of  every  crowned  head  in  Europe. 
He  is  a  favorite  of  the  Emperor  of  Austria  and  the 
Emperor  of  Russia  and  a  man  of  great  wealth." 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      179 

At  that  time  Ferdinand  held  a  commission  in  the 
Austrian  army  and  was  stationed  in  Vienna.  The 
committee  accepted  the  suggestion  eagerly,  conferred 
with  the  prime  minister  of  Austria  the  next  morning, 
communicated  with  Stambouloff  at  Sofia  by  telegraph, 
and  within  forty-eight  hours  offered  the  throne  of  Bul- 
garia to  the  young  prince,  who  was  not  yet  twenty- 
four  years  of  age.  The  selection  was  approved  by  all 
the  European  Powers  except  Russia.  Czar  Alexander 
III.  had  no  personal  objection  to  the  prince,  but  his 
policy  was  to  boycott  Bulgaria  as  long  as  Stambouloff 
and  the  Liberal  party,  then  in  power,  continued  to  defy 
him. 

The  regents  resigned.  Prince  Ferdinand  ascended  the 
throne,  and  appointed  Stambouloff  to  the  post  of  prime 
minister,  which  he  occupied  continuously  until  May, 
1894.  During  that  time  he  absolutely  controlled  the 
policy  of  the  government  and  the  opinions  of  the 
prince.  For  the  first  three  or  four  years  the  two  got 
on  without  friction,  and  Ferdinand  was  a  willing  agent 
of  his  minister;  but  as  he  grew  older,  particularly  after 
his  marriage  in  1893,  he  became  restless  under  the 
yoke,  showed  signs  of  independence,  and,  probably 
through  the  influence  of  his  wife,  began  to  yearn  for 
the  social  and  official  recognition  of  Russia,  which  up 
to  that  time  had  absolutely  ignored  him.  If  Stam- 
bouloff had  shown  more  tact  in  dealing  with  his  sov- 
ereign and  more  deference  towards  the  bride  the  latter 
had  brought  to  Bulgaria,  he  might  have  continued  at 
the  head  of  the  government  indefinitely,  but  he  made 
no  effort  to  conceal,  either  from  the  public  or  the 
court,  the  fact  that  the  prince  was  merely  his  puppet, 
and  when  the  latter  showed  signs  of  self-assertion 
drew   the   curb   even    more    firmly   upon    him.     The 


iSo    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Princess  Marie  Louise  of  Bourbon,  daughter  of 
the  Duke  of  Parma,  whom  Ferdinand  married  in 
1893,  first  aroused  his  pride  and  stimulated  his 
independence,  and  finally  acquired  sufficient  influ- 
ence over  her  husband  to  persuade  him  to  resist 
Stambouloff. 

Both  she  and  Ferdinand  were  ambitious  to  advance 
their  position  and  power.  Instead  of  being  registered 
in  the  almanacs  as  "princes"  they  wanted  to  be  called 
king  and  queen,  and  actually  had  crowns  made  at 
Munich  in  anticipation  of  a  favorable  vote  in  the 
Sobranje.  But  Stambouloff,  who  despised  pomp  and 
pretensions  like  the  true  democrat  that  he  was,  and 
looked  forward  to  a  time  when  Bulgaria  should  have  a 
republican  form  of  government,  opposed  the  aspira- 
tions of  his  sovereigns,  and  a  quarrel  occurred  which 
ended  with  his  retirement  from  the  ministry  and  the 
selection  of  Mr.  Stoiloff,  his  bitterest  enemy,  as  his 
successor.  Stambouloff  might  have  weathered  the 
storm  but  for  his  own  arrogance  and  a  domestic 
scandal  in  which  his  most  trusted  subordinate  was 
involved.  In  a  moment  of  pique  and  anger  he  wrote 
a  hasty  letter,  resigning  the  office  of  prime  minister, 
which  the  prince,  under  the  influence  of  his  wife,  was 
only  too  glad  to  receive  and  promptly  accept. 

Immediately  after,  following  the  example  of  his 
great  prototype,  the  Bulgarian  Bismarck  unbosomed 
himself  to  a  sympathetic  friend  who  happened  to  be 
correspondent  of  a  German  newspaper,  and  in  most 
sarcastic  and  disrespectful  terms  discussed  the  weak- 
nesses of  his  sovereign  and  the  Princess  Marie,  and 
grossly  violated  confidence  by  relating  several  amusing 
and  rather  humiliating  incidents  that  had  occurred 
during  his  experience  with   them.     This    indiscretion 


I 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      i8i 

was  the  ruin  of  Stambouloff.  The  interview  was 
republished  with  unfavorable  comments  in  every  city  of 
Europe  and  in  all  the  Bulgarian  papers;  even  those 
that  had  formerly  given  him  a  cordial  support.  The 
public  was  disgusted  and  the  indignation  of  the  royal 
household  knew  no  bounds.  Prince  Ferdinand  actu- 
ally went  into  court  with  a  suit  for  defamation  of  char- 
acter against  his  former  prime  minister;  he  discharged 
from  office  every  man  who  was  suspected  of  being  a 
sympathizer  of  Stambouloff;  ordered  the  arrest  of 
several  of  the  ex-minister's  confidential  associates  for 
malfeasance;  revoked  pensions  that  he  had  granted  to 
those  who  had  served  their  country  faithfully  under 
Stambouloff's  direction;  confiscated  the  property  of 
several  of  his  supporters  and  by  other  means  terrified 
almost  every  man  in  Bulgaria  who  had  been  loyal  to 
Stambouloff.  The  Bulgarians  are  a  fickle  people,  and 
within  a  few  weeks  were  ready  to  stone  their  former 
idol.  His  fall  was  complete.  Even  the  parliament, 
which  he  had  absolutely  controlled  so  long,  passed  a 
law  confiscating  his  property,  although  it  was  almost 
worthless.  Stambouloff  attempted  to  escape  from  the 
storm,  but,  by  order  of  the  prince,  the  police  forbade 
him  to  leave  the  country. 

Russia  took  advantage  of  the  situation  to  encourage 
Ferdinand's  spirit  of  independence,  and  immediately 
after  the  dismissal  of  Stambouloff  removed  the  boycott 
that  had  been  declared  against  Bulgaria  seven  years 
before.  The  Czar  Nicholas  recognized  Ferdinand  in  a 
formal  manner  and  sent  a  diplomatic  agent  to  Sofia, 
who  has  gradually  acquired  an  influence  over  the  prince 
and  a  control  over  the  government  that  are  now  almost 
absolute.  Ferdinand  might  as  well  be  the  governor 
of  a  Russian  province. 


1 82    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Although  the  recognition  from  Russia  which  he 
yearned  for  was  finally  obtained,  Prince  Ferdinand  has 
entirely  forfeited  the  respect  of  Europe  and  the  confi- 
dence of  the  other  Powers,  because  of  certain  events 
that  have  occurred  in  Sofia  since  the  change  of  minis- 
try. One  night  in  July,  1895,  ^  little  more  than  a  year 
after  his  retirement,  and  when  he  was  beginning  to 
show  signs  of  recovering  his  political  influence, 
Stambouloff  was  cruelly  assassinated  while  walking 
home  from  his  club.  One  of  the  assassins  was  identi- 
fied without  the  slightest  difficulty  by  Stambouloff 
himself,  by  a  friend  who  accompanied  him  and  by  a 
servant  who  was  following  them.  Three  men  were 
engaged  in  the  crime.  Their  leader  was  a  political 
adventurer  named  Michael  Stavreff,  or  Michael  Malieu 
as  he  is  usually  called,  who  had  been  identified 
with  the  Russian  party  in  Sofia  and  had  frequently 
been  employed  by  the  Russian  minister  on  confidential 
missions. 

It  was  firmly  believed  by  the  friends  of  Stambouloff 
and  the  members  of  the  anti-Russian  element  from  the 
beginning  that  Stavreff  was  hired  to  commit  the  mur- 
der, and  the  fact  that  the  assassin  was  permitted  to 
remain  unpunished,  and  was  not  even  arrested  was 
assumed  to  be  evidence  that  the  government  sympa- 
thized with  the  crime.  The  indifference  of  Prince  Fer- 
dinand excited  unfavorable  comment  throughout 
Europe,  and  he  has  never  recovered  the  respect  of  the 
courts  or  the  people.  Stavreff  was  a  familiar  object 
of  interest  about  Sofia,  a  habitue  of  the  cafes,  and  an 
active  participant  in  political  affairs,  being  frequently 
pointed  out  to  strangers  as  the  man  who  assassin- 
ated Stambouloff,  the  prime  minister;  and  while  he 
never  acknowledged    his   guilt,   seemed   to  enjoy  his 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      183 

notoriety.  His  source  of  revenue  was  a  matter  of  some 
curiosity,  and  it  was  the  popular  opinion  that  he  was 
drawing  a  pension  from  the  government  or  from  some 
person  in  power. 

As  his  intemperate  habits  grew  upon  him  he  lost 
control  of  his  tongue,  and  frequently  uttered  mysteri- 
ous hints  of  secrets  which  he  might  disclose  if  certain 
prominent  officials  did  not  treat  him  with  greater  con- 
sideration. He  became  reckless  in  gambling  as  well 
as  dissipation,  and  his  losses  made  him  bolder  and  less 
discreet  in  his  allusions,  until  in  October  24,  1902,  he 
was  arrested,  secretly  tried  in  prison  with  great  haste, 
and  condemned  to  death  for  the  assassination  of  Stam- 
bouloff  more  than  seven  years  previous.  It  was  offi- 
cially announced  that  he  had  made  a  full  confession  of 
his  guilt. 

Shortly  after  this  announcement  there  appeared 
upon  the  streets  of  Sofia  lithographed  facsimiles  of 
letters  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Ludskanoff,  the  min- 
ister of  the  interior,  who  had  ordered  the  arrest  and 
execution  of  Stavreff ,  showing  conclusively  that  he  had 
employed  that  desperado  to  murder  not  only  Stam- 
bouloff,  but  also  Mr.  Vulkovitch,  who,  until  his  death 
in  1892,  in  ability  and  influence  was  second  only  to 
Stambouloff  in  the  anti-Russian  party.  At  that  time 
Ludskanoff  was  the  leader  of  the  pro-Russian  faction, 
and  fled  from  the  country  to  escape  arrest  for  com- 
plicity in  the  assassination  of  Vulkovitch.  Stam- 
bouloff issued  a  decree  of  perpetual  banishment  against 
him,  and  he  did  not  return  to  Bulgaria  until  a  procla- 
mation of  universal  amnesty  was  issued  after  Stam- 
bouloff's  death.  Upon  his  return  Ludskanoff,  who  is 
a  man  of  force  and  ability,  resumed  his  former  prom- 
inence  in    politics,    entered   the   parliament,   and    for 


i84    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

several  years  has  been  a  member  of  the  ministry,  and 
an  obedient  tool  of  Russian  influence. 

The  publication  of  the  incriminating  letters  naturally 
created  a  profound  sensation,  especially  as  they  were 
followed,  in  a  few  days,  by  several  others  of  similar 
character,  and  caused  a  dissolution  of  the  cabinet.  It 
was  immediately  reorganized,  however,  and  Ludskanoff 
was  reappointed  to  the  ministry  of  the  interior;  the 
prime  minister,  Mr.  Kavachoff,  explaining  that  the 
proclamation  of  amnesty  was  a  full  pardon  for  any 
offenses  with  which  his  colleagues  might  have  been 
connected,  which  seems  to  have  been  satisfactory  to 
the  Russian  sympathizers. 

The  police  were  not  able  to  ascertain  the  source  of 
the  mysterious  publications,  but  it  was  the  popular 
opinion  that  the  letters  were  intrusted  by  Stavreff  to 
loyal  friends  to  be  used  for  his  protection  in  an  emer- 
gency. They  appear  to  have  served  their  purpose,  for 
at  this  writing  Stavreff  has  not  been  executed,  although 
he  still  remains  in  solitary  confinement  under  sentence 
of  death. 

In  1900  Prince  Ferdinand  was  guilty  of  another  act 
of  an  entirely  different  character,  which  brought  down 
upon  him  the  undisguised  condemnation  of  every 
Catholic  country  and  civilization  generally.  Upon  his 
marriage  with  Marie  Louise  of  Orleans,  Ferdinand 
made  a  vow  that  their  children  should  be  baptized  and 
educated  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  This  was 
one  of  the  stipulations  insisted  upon  by  the  father  and 
family  of  the  bride.  Ferdinand  is  himself  a  Roman 
Catholic  by  birth  and  baptism.  He  has  erected  a 
chapel  in  the  palace,  has  a  Roman  Catholic  chaplain, 
and  attends  mass  each  morning  at  seven  o'clock. 
While  making  his  annual  visits  to  an  Austrian  watering- 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      185 

place  he  never  fails  to  attend  mass  daily  at  a  public 
church,  and  has  otherwise  shown  a  devout  and  consist- 
ent spirit.  But  no  sooner  was  his  wife  buried  in  1899 
than  he  placed  his  eldest  son,  the  Crown  Prince  Boris, 
a  child  five  years  old  and  the  future  king  of  Bulgaria, 
in  charge  of  a  Russian  priest  of  the  Greek  Church,  who 
secretly  baptized  and  is  now  educating  the  boy  in  that 
faith.  This  is  said  to  have  been  done  at  the  suggestion 
of  Russia,  but  no  one  believes  that  the  Czar  thinks  any 
better  of  him  for  it,  while  the  Emperor  of  Austria,  the 
King  of  Italy,  the  German  Emperor  and  other  sover- 
eigns of  Europe  have  publicly  expressed  their  disap- 
proval of  the  proceeding.  The  other  children  are 
being  brought  up  in  the  faith  of  their  parents. 

Prince  Ferdinand  of  Bulgaria  spends  very  little  time 
at  his  capital.  There  is  not  much  there  to  attract  his 
interest.  The  affairs  of  state  are  carefully  looked  after 
by  Mr.  Bakhmeteff,  the  Russian  representative,  and 
the  members  of  the  ministry;  social  and  intellectual 
diversions  are  almost  unknown,  and  the  prince  has  a 
hobby  which  he  can  pursue  with  greater  satisfaction  at 
Varna,  where  he  has  a  country  palace  on  the  shores  of 
the  Black  Sea.  He  is  an  accomplished  naturalist,  and 
spends  much  of  his  time  hunting  and  classifying  insects, 
plants  and  other  phenomena  of  animate  and  inanimate 
nature.  He  has  catalogued  nearly  all  the  flora  and 
fauna  of  Bulgaria  and  has  established  in  Sofia  a  very 
respectable  zoological  garden  at  his  own  expense. 

Although  a  grandson  of  Louis  Philippe,  the  prince 
has  the  nose  of  Louis  Napoleon,  and  is  said  to  bear  a 
singular  resemblance  to  the  last  emperor  of  France, 
both  in  disposition  and  character.  His  nose  is  a  grati- 
fication to  the  caricaturists.  It  is  so  conspicuous  that 
it  answers  for  a  trade-mark,  and  they  are  able  to  play 


1 86    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

upon  it  with  great  ingenuity.  He  is  altogether  a 
clever  and  accomplished  gentleman,  a  skillful  politi- 
cian with  an  accommodating  conscience,  and  very  dif- 
ferent from  his  predecessor,  Alexander  of  Battenberg. 
He  has  inherited  the  manners  of  his  French  ancestors, 
as  well  as  their  insincerity,  and  can  wriggle  out  of  a 
tight  place,  they  say,  more  gracefully  than  any  other 
prince  in  Europe.  Alexander  was  a  Lutheran  and 
encouraged  Protestant  missionary  work.  Ferdinand 
does  not  object  to  the  missionary  invasion,  because 
the  constitution  guarantees  free  worship  and  the  police 
protect  the  Protestants  in  case  of  disturbance. 

Prince  Ferdinand  had  a  brief  but  happy  married  life. 
Marie  Louise  lived  about  six  years  after  marriage  and 
had  four  children — Boris,  born  January  30,  1894;  Cyril, 
born  November  17,  1895;  Eudoxie,  born  January  17, 
1898,  and  Madeja,  born  January  30,  1899.  The  late 
Queen  died  on  the  day  following  the  birth  of  her  young- 
est child.  They  are  all  interesting  children,  and  are 
being  carefully  trained  after  European  methods. 

The  patron  saint  of  Bulgaria  is  St.  John  of  Kyle, 
although  Christianity  was  introduced  into  the  country 
by  St.  Methodias.  Originally  a  shepherd,  John  of 
Ryle  became  a  monk  and  ascetic,  and  lived  for  twenty 
years  in  the  hollow  of  an  oak  tree  in  the  mountains 
that  divide  Bulgaria  and  Macedonia,  which  are  now 
called  by  his  name.  He  then  removed  to  an  inacces- 
sible rock,  under  which  was  afterwards  built  in  his 
honor  what  is  known  as  the  Ryle  Monastery.  It  is  an 
extensive  building  of  medieval  architecture  and  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  objects  in  Bulgaria.  It  lies  in 
the  midst  of  beautiful  mountain  scenery  two  days' 
journey  south  of  Sofia,  and  is  frequently  visited  by 
tourists,  who  are  hospitably  entertained  by  the  monks. 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      187 

The  old  monastery  has  come  to  considerable  notori- 
ety recently,  because  of  a  report  that  Miss  Stone  was 
concealed  within  its  walls,  and  the  building  was 
thoroughly  searched  by  the  soldiers  under  orders  from 
the  government  at  Sofia.  This  invasion  and  profana- 
tion of  the  holy  place  caused  great  indignation  among 
members  of  the  Greek  Church  throughout  Bulgaria, 
who  blamed  the  American  missionaries  and  threatened 
reprisals.  The  hostility  of  the  monks  against  mission- 
ary proselyting  is  much  more  bitter  and  vindictive  than 
is  shown  by  the  regular  parish  clergy,  because  the 
latter  as  a  rule  are  better  educated.  They  mingle  with 
the  world,  and  therefore  are  more  liberal  in  their  views 
on  all  subjects. 

It  is  not  altogether  certain  that  the  monks  of  St. 
Ryle  were  blameless  of  complicity  in  Miss  Stone's 
abduction,  but  there  is  no  proof  that  they  had  any 
share  in  or  knowledge  of  the  outrage.  The  suspicion 
is  based  upon  knowledge  of  previous  circumstances. 
Their  relation  with  the  brigands  has  always  been 
friendly,  and  in  olden  times  the  secluded  situation  of 
the  monastery  made  it  a  convenient  rendezvous  for 
enterprising  gentlemen  who  ordinarily  pursued  peaceful 
vocations  in  the  fields  and  pastures,  but  took  to  the 
road  whenever  tempted  by  favorable  opportunities  or 
pressed  by  necessity.  They  are  said  to  have  given 
liberally  of  their  booty  to  the  monks  and  to  have 
brought  to  their  table  much  game  and  other  food 
supplies  from  the  mountains.  In  return  for  this  gen- 
erosity the  monks  often  afforded  them  an  asylum  when 
they  were  pressed  by  the  police,  gave  them  shelter  in 
stormy  weather,  concealed  their  arms  and  ammunition, 
and  permitted  them  to  use  the  monastery  as  a  meeting 
place  before  and  after  their  raids.     It  would  be  per- 


1 88    The  TURK  ajid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

fectly  natural  for  the  bandits  who  captured  Miss  Stone 
to  take  their  captives  to  St.  Ryle  for  the  night  or  for 
a  longer  period  if  they  happened  to  be  in  that  locality, 
and,  acting  upon  this  knowledge  of  their  habits,  the 
government  ordered  the  place  to  be  searched.  The 
monastery  has  withstood  many  a  siege,  and  has  been 
the  scene  of  slaughter  and  suffering  as  well  as  devo- 
tion during  every  epoch  of  Bulgarian  history.  The 
fanaticism  of  the  Moslems  is  recorded  upon  the 
frescoes  that  represent  Christian  saints  and  legends,  by 
numerous  gashes  made  by  scimiters  and  punctures  by 
yataghans.  The  cells  are  damp  and  narrow  and 
without  creature  comforts,  but  the  holy  fathers  seem 
to  be  contented,  and  judging  from  their  appear- 
ance have  not  entirely  denied  themselves  carnal  pleas- 
ures. 

John  of  Ryle  lived  in  the  tenth  century  and  died  in 
the  year  976.  St.  Methodias  lived  from  852  to  888. 
The  monastery  was  originally  built  in  the  eleventh 
century.  In  those  days  Bulgaria  was  a  powerful 
nation,  and  its  opulence  and  the  magnificence  of  its 
court  were  the  wonder  of  the  world.  The  ruins  of  the 
palaces  of  the  Bulgarian  czars  at  Tirnova,  the  ancient 
capital,  are  extensive  and  still  show  evidences  of  their 
original  splendor.  The  walls  were  decorated  with  gold 
and  inlaid  with  mosaics  of  gilded  glass.  The  pillars 
were  of  polished  marble,  and  much  bronze  was  used  in 
ornamentation.  In  the  early  chronicles  we  catch  a 
glimpse  of  the  czar  who  sat  upon  a  throne  of  ivory 
ornamented  with  gold,  silver  and  precious  stones,  in  an 
audience  chamber  of  marble.  His  robe  was  trimmed 
with  pearls,  his  girdle  glistened  with  diamonds,  his 
armor  tinkled  with  the  chains  of  gold  coin  that  hung 
about  his  neck  and  shoulders.     The  bracelets,  anklets 


RECENT  HISTORY  AND  POLITICS      189 

and  collars  which  he  wore  were  embossed  with  jewels 
of  great  price,  and  his  scepter  was  set  with  rubies, 
diamonds,  sapphires  and  other  precious  stones,  like 
those  that  can  now  be  seen  among  the  relics  of  early 
Russian  history  in  the  Kremlin  at  Moscow. 

Tirnova,  the  ancient  capital,  still  stands,  a  pictur- 
esque study,  upon  the  rocky  walls  of  a  rapid  river.  Its 
streets  run  up  and  down  the  slopes  of  the  hills;  its 
houses  are  perched  upon  rocks.  Ingenious  warriors  in 
olden  times  utilized  the  limestone  cliffs  which  sur- 
round it  and  rise  to  altitudes  of  seven  or  eight 
hundred  feet,  for  fortifications,  partly  natural  and 
partly  artificial.  Among  them  appear  groups  of  gayly 
painted  houses  separated  by  the  heavy  foliage  of  the 
venerable  trees  and  luxurious  gardens.  The  domes  of 
the  Greek  churches,  the  minarets  of  the  mosques,  the 
clock  towers,  steeples  and  the  French  roofs  of  modern 
buildings  form  a  curious  architectural  medley.  The 
East  and  West  meet  in  this  romantic  little  place,  where 
nature  seems  to  have  forbidden  a  city  to  be  built. 

In  the  center  of  the  town,  upon  the  longest  street,  is 
a  natural  bridge  of  stone  spanning  a  deep  chasm, 
through  which  the  river  Jantra  flows.  It  is  not  so 
high  nor  so  wide  by  half  as  the  natural  bridge  of  Vir- 
ginia, but  is  equally  curious,  and  being  in  the  center  of 
a  city  is,  of  course,  of  greater  interest.  Some  histo- 
rians assert  that  both  the  causeway  and  the  chasm 
were  cut  by  human  hands  as  a  protection  to  the  citadel 
which  stands  upon  the  other  side.  If  this  is  true  it 
was  an  ingenious  device,  and  before  the  days  of  gun- 
powder and  heavy  artillery  the  place  must  have  been 
impregnable. 

Ancient  history  occasionally  appears  in  a  most 
startling  manner,  and  it  is  often  difficult  to  realize  that 


I90    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

you  are  actually  gazing  upon  buildings  and  scenes  that 
are  identified  with  the  most  romantic  episodes  of 
human  history.  Here,  in  the  tower  of  this  picturesque 
castle,  Baldwin,  the  Frank  crusader  who  accompanied 
Richard  the  Lion-Hearted  and  became  Emperor  of 
Constantinople,  was  confined  as  a  prisoner.  He  was 
defeated  at  Adrianople  by  the  Bulgarian  army  under 
the  Czar  Kalojan,  and  brought  to  Tirnova,  where  he 
was  imprisoned  for  several  years,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  buried  alive.  They  call  it  "Baldwin's  Tower," 
and  although  partially  ruined  it  is  still  sufficiently 
preserved  to  give  one  an  idea  of  its  original  appear- 
ance, and  its  walls  and  windows  look  out  upon  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  views  in  the  world. 

Attached  to  the  palace  of  the  Bulgarian  czars  were 
gardens  filled  with  fruit  trees  and  flowering  plants 
whose  traces  still  remain  until  the  present  day. 
Wherever  the  earth  is  turned  or  a  cellar  is  dug  for  a 
new  building,  vestiges  of  former  grandeur  and  some- 
times relics  of  the  Roman  occupation  are  disclosed. 
Lying  by  the  roadside  are  mutilated  remains  of 
marble  pillars  and  pedestals;  capitals  with  bulls' 
heads  and  wreaths  exquisitely  carved;  discs  of 
glazed  pottery  and  gilded  glass;  pieces  of  molding 
with  bronze  still  clinging  to  them;  quartz  enameled 
with  colors  and  gold,  and  sometimes  fragments  of 
plaster  still  retaining  the  colors  of  a  fresco. 


THE  PEOPLE  OF  BULGARIA 

Bulgaria  is    about    as  big  as    Pennsylvania,    has   a 
similar  shape,   and   reminds   one   very  much   of   that 
State,  because  of  the  resemblance  in  topography  and 
other  physical  features.     The  forests    and    the  rivers 
watering  rich  valleys,  the  mountain  ranges,  the  rocky 
ledges,  and  the  landscape  generally  are  very  much  like 
the  Quaker  State.     The  population  is  about  thirty  per 
cent   less.     The    Danube   River    forms    the    northern 
boundary  of  Bulgaria,  and  much  of  the  produce  of  the 
state  goes  out,  and  much  of  its  imported  merchandise 
comes  in  upon  enormous  barges  towed  in  strings  from 
Budapest  and  from  Vienna.     Austria  monopolizes  the 
trade  in  manufactured  merchandise.   During  the  summer 
season  the  passenger  steamers  on  the  Danube  offer  a 
very  pleasant  voyage  through  Hungary,  Servia,  Bul- 
garia and  Roumania  to  the  Black  Sea,  but  in  the  dry 
season  in  the  fall  the  water  is  low,  fogs  are  frequent 
and  the  air  is  too  cool  to  sit  on  the  deck,  hence  a  trip 
by  train  is  more  agreeable.     You  can  go  to  Sofia  from 
Vienna  by  rail  in  twenty-four   hours    in   comfortable 
sleeping-cars    and    good   dining-cars,   in    which    table 
d'hote  meals  are  served   at  city  prices,  but  the  fares 
are  very  high. 

The  Orient  Express,  which  is  the  great  railway  train 
of  Europe,  and  runs  from  Calais  and  Ostend  through 
Germany  and  France  to  Constantinople  three  times  a 
week,  is  a  pretentious  humbug  when  judged  by  Amer- 
ican standards.  The  distance  between  Vienna  and 
Sofia  is  about  the  same  as  between  Philadelphia  and 
Pittsburg,   but   it   takes    twice   as   long   to   make  the 

191 


IQ2    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

journey,  and  the  fare  is  about  four  times  as  much. 
The  extra  fare,  or  supplement,  as  they  call  it, 
demanded  for  the  privilege  of  riding  upon  this  famous 
train,  is  forty-four  francs  between  those  two  cities,  or 
S8.40,  which  is  about  full  fare  between  Philadelphia 
and  Pittsburg,  and  instead  of  getting  a  wide  berth  in  a 
Pullman  sleeper  for  %2  you  have  to  pay  $3.80  for  a 
night's  lodging  in  a  stuffy  little  closet.  The  beds 
are  comfortable,  but  the  space  is  so  narrow  that 
it  is  scarcely  safe  to  roll  over,  and  the  only  way  to 
ventilate  the  compartment  is  to  open  a  window 
directly  over  your  head.  The  ordinary  trains  are  only 
two  hours  slower  than  the  Orient  Express;  they  are 
equally  well  equipped,  run  every  day  and  the  charge  is 
only  about  one-half  as  much. 

Bulgaria  has  several  railroads,  running  to  the  Black 
Sea,  to  Bucharest  and  to  Salonika  on  the  Mediterra- 
nean, in  addition  to  the  trunk  line  to  Constantinople, 
They  belong  to  the  government,  and  seem  to  be  well 
managed,  although  they  make  very  slow  time.  The 
Orient  Express  sometimes  works  up  a  speed  of  twenty 
miles  an  hour,  but  averages  about  eighteen,  and  that  is 
considered  remarkable.  The  entire  railway  system 
3gg''cgates  nine  hundred  and  nine  miles,  with  one 
hundred  and  thirty  miles  of  new  track  under  construc- 
tion. Telephone  and  telegraph  wires,  belonging  to 
the  government,  are  stretched  all  over  the  country, 
the  telephone  service  being  a  great  improvement  upon 
that  of  Germany,  which,  however,  is  the  worst  I  have 
ever  found — so  bad  that  foreigners  will  not  use  a  tele- 
phone if  they  can  possibly  avoid  it.  I  have  often 
thought  that  perhaps  some  of  the  German  parts  of 
speech  are  too  big  to  send  over  an  ordinary  wire,  that 
perhaps  the  wear  and   tear  of  the   telephone   instru- 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  193 

ments  is  too  great  for  them  to  endure;  but  an  eminent 
professor  in  the  University  of  Berlin,  to  whom  I  sug- 
gested this  one  evening,  thought  I  was  in  earnest  and 
punished  my  impudence  by  holding  me  up  in  a  corner 
for  half  an  hour  while  he  demonstrated  the  absurdity 
of  the  proposition.  Moral — Never  try  to  joke  with 
German  professors. 

The  eastern  boundary  of  Bulgaria  is  the  Black  Sea; 
on  the  west  is  the  Kingdom  of  Servia,  and  on  the 
south  the  Rhodope  chain  of  mountains  divides  it  from 
the  Turkish  province  of  Eastern  Rumelia,  or  Macedonia, 
as  that  portion  situated  south  of  Bulgaria  is  commonly 
called.  The  Balkan  Mountains,  like  the  Allegha- 
nies  in  Pennsylvania,  bisect  the  country  and  divide 
it  into  two  provinces.  In  some  parts  we  find  beautiful 
undulating  landscapes  and  at  intervals  long  expanses 
of  elevated  plateaus  varying  from  twelve  hundred  to 
two  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  which  lie  between 
the  mountain  ranges.  These  plains  are  irrigated  and 
drained  by  several  important  streams,  the  most  inter- 
esting being  the  Jantra,  which  winds  among  the  moun- 
tains through  high  limestone  gorges,  and  furnishes  a 
picturesque  feature  to  the  topography.  There  are  no 
large  cities  in  Bulgaria,  but  several  important  towns, 
each  of  which  has  its  marked  peculiarities: 

POPULATION 

Sofia 46, 593 

Rustchuk   37. 174 

Tirnova 25,295 

Shumla 23,517 

Plevna  23, 178 

Razgrad 21,551 

Orehovo 20,054 

Philippopolis 41,068 

Varna 28, 174 

Orehovitsa 25,013 

Slivno  23,210 

Tatar  Pazarjik 22,056 

Vidin 29,044 


194     77^^TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

There  are  several  other  towns  of  less  than  twenty 
thousand  and  more  than  ten  thousand  population,  but 
three-fourths  of  the  inhabitants  are  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural and  pastoral  pursuits,  most  of  them  being 
small  farmers,  cultivating  from  one  to  six  acres,  and 
having  large  flocks  and  herds  which  graze  at  large. 
Theoretically,  the  state  owns  all  the  land,  and  the 
people  are  tenants  with  perpetual  leases,  descending 
from  generation  to  generation,  who  pay  one-tenth  of 
all  their  products  to  the  state,  usually  in  kind,  in  lieu 
of  rental  and  taxes.  The  pasture  land  is  free,  and  is 
held  in  common  by  unwritten  and  unrecorded  titles  by 
those  who  occupy  it  with  their  flocks  and  herds.  The 
forests  have  also  been  free  until  recently,  and  anyone 
who  chose  to  do  so  was  at  liberty  to  cut  whatever 
timber  he  needed  for  his  own  use  without  payment,  but 
the  police  exercised  a  supervisory  authority  to  prevent 
the  wholesale  destruction  of  the  trees  for  commercial 
purposes.  Forty-seven  per  cent  of  the  entire  territory 
is  in  pasture,  and  sheep,  goats,  cattle,  horses  and  pigs 
are  raised  in  large  numbers.  The  wool  product  of 
Bulgaria  is  the  greatest  source  of  wealth,  and  is  sent 
to  Austria  and  Germany.  The  exports  of  hides  and 
skins  are  next  in  value,  not  less  than  five  million  sheep 
pelts  being  shipped  annually.  The  principal  agricul- 
tural product  is  wheat,  which  goes  to  Germany  and 
Turkey,  and  a  very  important  and  profitable  industry 
is  the  distillation  of  attar  of  roses,  which  is  carried  on 
in  the  provinces  bordering  on  the  Black  Sea. 

The  Bulgarians  have  a  language  of  their  own,  a  sort 
of  dialect  of  the  Russian,  which  bears  the  same  rela- 
tion to  that  language  as  the  Scotch  bears  to  the 
English.  There  are  Greek  letters  in  their  alphabet 
and  Greek  words  in  their  vocabulary,  but  the  language 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA 


195 


is  Slavonic.  No  Bulgarian  could  understand  a  Greek, 
and  vice  versa,  and  a  Russian  peasant  could  not  con- 
verse with  a  Bulgarian  peasant  any  more  readily  than 
a  Highlander  could  talk  with  a  costermonger  from 
Whitechapel,  because  each  has  his  local  idioms;  but 
educated  Russians  and  Bulgarians  can  understand  each 
other  even  if  each  talks  in  his  own  language.  Rus- 
sians can  read  Bulgarian  newspapers  very  readily. 
Philologists  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  Bulgarian 
language  is  quite  as  close  to  the  old  Slav  tongue  as  the 
Russian,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  many  words  may 
be  traced  to  the  old  Thracian  and  Illyrian  tongues. 
The  Slavs  drove  the  original  population  into  the 
mountains  and  seized  their  lands  on  the  plains,  but  in 
the  second  half  of  the  seventh  century  a  horde  of  un- 
couth warriors  crossed  the  Danube  and  subjugated  the 
Slavs,  and  their  descendants  have  since  occupied  the 
territory  which  bears  their  name.  The  Bulgarians  are 
of  mysterious  origin.  The  source  from  which  they 
came  has  never  been  satisfactorily  determined.  Some 
ethnologists  argue  that  they  were  Finns,  others 
believe  they  were  Tartars,  but  the  greatest  weight  of 
evidence  seems  to  fix  their  former  residence  on  the 
banks  of  the  Volga  River.  They  were  without  a 
history,  which  is  a  singular  thing  for  so  vigorous, 
progressive  and  intelligent  a  race.  It  is  a  curious 
coincidence  that  the  Bulgarians  lost  their  language  but 
kept  their  name,  while  the  Slavs,  whom  they  subdued, 
lost  their  name  but  kept  their  language. 

Sofia,  the  capital  and  comm.ercial  center,  is  situated 
in  the  southwestern  corner  of  Bulgaria  on  an  elevated 
plain,  at  the  base  of  Mount  Vitosch,  a  beautiful  peak 
seven  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  high.  Its  head  is 
usually  clothed  in  the  clouds,  and  perpetual  snow  lies 


196    The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

in  the  wrinkles  upon  its  face.  The  cloud  movements 
and  other  atmospheric  effects  add  greatly  to  its  pic- 
turesqueness,  and  in  autumn  the  forests  which  cover 
its  breast  arc  vivid  with  scarlet  and  yellow  foliage,  which 
reaches  to  the  snow  line  and  affords  a  striking  and 
lovely  contrast.  The  base  of  the  mountain  is  only  a 
few  miles  from  the  city,  and  excursions  to  it  are  one 
of  the  few  amusements  in  which  foreigners  can  indulge 
in  warm  weather.  They  have  very  little  diversion. 
There  are  no  theaters — only  one  little  vaudeville  show — 
no  concerts,  except  occasionally  by  a  military  band 
attached  to  the  palace,  and  only  a  limited  amount  of 
social  entertainment.  The  foreign  colony  must  there- 
fore find  its  fun  in  driving,  riding,  picnicking  and 
playing  tennis.  Golf  has  not  been  introduced,  for  the 
natives  take  little  interest  in  such  sports.  The  foreign 
colony  is  small,  and  limited  almost  entirely  to  the 
diplomatic  representatives  of  the  European  countries. 
A  few  Austrians  and  Germans  are  engaged  in  business 
affairs,  several  Belgian  engineers  run  the  electric-light 
and  street-car  lines,  and  there  are  one  Englishman  and 
two  or  three  Americans,  mostly  missionary  teachers. 

The  city  covers  a  considerable  area,  and  looks  as  if 
a  building  boom  had  been  suddenly  checked,  which  is 
true.  Prince  Alexander  was  a  great  promoter.  Under 
his  administration  Bulgaria  made  extraordinary 
progress,  and  Sofia  started  upon  a  promising  career. 
Stambouloff  took  up  the  work  where  Alexander  left  it 
at  his  abdication,  and  carried  out  many  of  his  schemes, 
but  since  the  "Bulgarian  Bismarck"  was  relieved  as 
prime  minister,  little  has  been  done  in  the  way  of 
public  or  private  improvement.  The  stagnation  is 
said  to  be  due  in  a  measure  to  a  lack  of  confidence  in 
the  stability  of  the  present  government,  and  to  the 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  197 

fact  that  Prince  Ferdinand  is  interested  in  other 
things.  One  must  infer  that  he  takes  little  pride  in 
the  appearance  of  his  capital  and  does  not  encourage 
the  expenditure  of  money  upon  public  works. 

Shortly  before  he  retired,  Stambouloff  purchased  an 
entire  block  of  ground  opposite  the  palace,  upon 
which  he  intended  to  erect  a  magnificent  building  for 
the  offices  of  the  government.  The  plans  were  drawn 
by  an  Austrian  architect,  excavations  were  made  for 
the  foundation  and  cellars,  and  a  large  quantity  of  cut 
stone  was  delivered  by  the  contractors,  A  few  days 
after  Stambouloff' s  retirement  work  was  suspended  and 
has  never  been  resumed.  Several  train  loads  of  granite 
lie  scattered  over  the  ground;  the  cellar  is  half-filled 
with  water  during  the  wet  season  and  overgrown  with 
weeds  during  the  dry  months.  Every  stranger  who 
comes  to  Sofia  instinctively  asks  an  explanation,  but 
Prince  Ferdinand,  who  always  has  this  reproachful 
panorama  before  him,  seems  to  be  entirely  indifferent 
to  it.  The  palace  is  a  fine  building  in  French  style, 
surrounded  by  pleasant  grounds,  and  facing  a  public 
park  that  is  well  laid  out  with  foliage  plants  and 
fountains,  and  is  a  pleasure  ground  for  the  people. 

The  old  city,  or  the  Turkish  quarter,  as  it  is 
called,  resembles  a  patch  of  Constantinople,  and  has 
the  low  adobe  walls,  the  heavy  tiled  roofs,  the  deep 
windows  and  the  narrow  streets  of  all  oriental  cities, 
with  long  blocks  of  bazaars  kept  by  Turks  and  Jews, 
who  have  most  of  their  wares  displayed  upon  the  side- 
walks. This  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  section  of 
the  town  to  strangers.  The  shops  are  open,  so  that 
the  visitor  is  enabled  to  watch  the  artisans  at  their 
work.  The  trades  seem  to  be  grouped  together — the 
shoemakers  in  one  bunch,  the  tailors  in  another,  the 


igS     The  TURK  aiid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

butchers,  bakers,  brassworkers,  tinsmiths  and  other 
people  in  the  same  trade  occupying  adjoining  houses. 

Most  of  the  natives  wear  unshorn  sheepskin  clothing, 
with  the  wool  next  to  the  body,  the  leather  side  being 
tanned  to  a  soft  white,  velvety  appearance  like  buck- 
skin; and  the  most  interesting  occupation  is  that  of  the 
tailors,  who  make  all  sorts  of  queer-looking  garments 
from  sheepskins.  Many  of  the  men  wear  short  jackets 
of  the  Eton  pattern,  but  as  the  weather  grows  colder 
they  change  them  for  warmer  garments,  and  some 
have  long  ulsters  with  wide  skirts  which  reach  to  their 
heels.  The  rest  of  their  clothing  is  the  natural  color 
of  the  wool  woven  into  heavy  fabrics;  their  headgear 
is  made  of  lamb's  wool  curled  like  the  skating  caps 
sometimes  worn  in  the  United  States.  They  are 
called  kalpaks. 

In  the  new  part  of  the  city  the  streets  are  wide,  and 
in  the  business  portion  are  lined  with  fine  buildings  of 
stuccoed  brick,  ornamented  with  elaborate  moldings 
similar  to  those  of  Germany  and  Austria.  The  resi- 
dence portion  is  only  partially  built  up,  there  being 
wide  gaps  between  the  houses,  showing  the  town  lots 
that  have  been  held  for  speculative  purposes  and 
where  building  schemes  have  been  abandoned.  If 
Sofia  were  as  closely  built  as  the  ordinary  European 
city  it  could  accommodate  three  times  its  present  pop- 
ulation. Occasionally  a  stately  residence  rises  from 
behind  a  forbidding  wall.  The  foliage  around  it  indi- 
cates a  garden,  but  Bulgarian  civilization  has  not 
passed  the  period  when  it  is  prudent  to  omit  any 
means  of  protection.  The  streets  and  sidewalks  are 
in  a  horrible  condition.  In  the  business  portion  of  the 
city  the  roadways  are  paved  with  cobblestones  and  the 
sidewalks  are  well  laid  with  flags,   tiles    and     bricks. 


THE    PEOPLE    OF   BULGARIA  199 

Each  householder  in  the  residence  portion  is  expected 
to  lay  the  sidewalk  in  front  of  his  premises,  but  many 
of  them  neglect  to  do  so. 

Several  imposing  buildings  were  erected  for  govern- 
ment purposes  during  the  reign  of  Prince  Alexander, 
usually  of  French  architecture,  and  among  other  things 
a  Protestant  church  (he  was  a  Lutheran),  which  Ferdi- 
nand has  converted  into  a  riding-school.  The  military 
barracks,  schoolhouses,  the  public  printing  office,  a 
technical  school  and  other  public  buildings  are  credit- 
able, but  lose  much  of  their  dignity  by  being  scattered 
over  the  city,  with  unsightly  spaces  of  open  ground 
and  half-finished  buildings  that  have  been  abandoned 
between  them.  Several  former  Turkish  mosques  have 
been  converted  to  secular  uses  and  are  now  occupied 
as  prisons,  markets,  warehouses  and  arsenals.  The 
largest  mosque,  in  the  center  of  the  city,  and  only  a 
stone's  throw  from  the  palace,  was  recently  fitted  up 
for  a  national  museum. 

Although  Sofia  is  still  primitive  in  many  respects, 
modern  ideas  are  rapidly  growing  in  favor  and  there  is 
nothing  in  the  new  part  of  the  town  to  recall  the 
recent  Turkish  occupation.  The  citizens  very  gener- 
ally wear  modern  European  clothing.  The  only  place 
one  can  see  the  native  costume  is  at  the  market  in  the 
early  morning,  where  the  country  people  bring  vege- 
tables and  dairy  products  for  sale.  There  are  two 
hotels  with  comfortable  rooms  and  excellent  tables,  a 
club  that  would  be  an  ornament  to  any  city  in  Europe, 
and  other  features  of  modern  civilization  quite  as 
advanced  as  are  to  be  found  in  Austria  or  Germany. 
The  streets,  public  buildings,  hotels  and  many  private 
houses  are  lighted  by  electricity.  Electric  street-cars 
run    in    every   direction,    owned    and    managed    by   a 


200    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Belgian  company.  The  fare  is  three  cents  for  first- 
class  passengers  and  two  cents  for  second-class.  The 
cars  are  divided  in  the  middle  by  a  partition,  and  the 
only  difference  between  the  two  classes  is  that  one  sits 
upon  red-plush  cushions  and  the  other  upon  wooden 
benches.  The  conductors  change  the  cushions  from 
one  part  of  the  car  to  the  other  at  each  end  of  the 
trip. 

The  Bulgarian  army  is  composed  of  thirty  thousand 
men,  well  drilled,  equipped  in  the  German  style,  and 
organized  by  Russian  officers  upon  the  Russian  system. 
Every  man  between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  twenty- 
four  years  is  obliged  to  do  military  duty  for  four  years, 
although  Mohammedans  may  escape  service  by  the 
payment  of  a  special  tax.  Persons  exempted  on  account 
of  infirmities  are  also  required  to  pay  special  taxes. 
On  an  average  forty  thousand  young  men  become  of 
military'  age  annually,  but,  as  the  government  does  not 
need  and  cannot  pay  so  many,  about  one-third  of  this 
number  are  drawn  by  lot  for  ser\-ice,  so  that  the  actual 
time  spent  in  the  army  is  two  years  instead  of  five  as 
required  by  law.  The  reser\'es,  numbering  about  200,000, 
can  be  called  into  service  upon  a  few  days'  notice, 
provided  there  is  money  in  the  treasury  to  meet  the 
expense.  There  is  a  military  academy  at  Sofia  at 
which  officers  are  educated,  and  to  enter  that  institution 
and  graduate  with  a  commission  in  the  army  is  the 
highest  ambition  of  every  Bulgarian  youth  The  offi- 
cers about  town  are  a  handsome  lot  of  fellows,  with 
pleasant  manners,  fine  physique,  intelligent  faces  and 
soldierly  carriage.  The  natives  are  all  natural  horse- 
men, and  a  squadron  of  Bulgarian  cavalry  is  a  worthy 
object  of  admiration.  The  uniforms  are  similar  to  those 
of  Germany.     None  but  an  expert  could  distinguish  the 


MILITARY  CLUB  AT  SOFL\ 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    BULGARIA  201 

difference,  and  the  garrison  of  Sofia  must  be  very  large, 
because  uniformed  men  are  so  numerous  in  the  streets. 
The  army  is  kept  up  to  a  high  degree  of  efficiency 
because  trouble  with  Turkey  is  always  anticipated,  and 
may  occur  at  any  moment.  The  Bulgarians  have  dedi- 
cated themselves  as  a  nation  to  the  emancipation  of 
their  neighbors  and  relatives  in  Macedonia,  and  are 
only  waiting  a  favorable  opportunity  to  strike.  Their 
great  difficulty  is  money.  Their  treasury  is  empty  and 
their  national  credit  is  exhausted,  but  they  will  seize 
every  opportunity  that  is  offered  for  a  co2ipd (^tat.  Pol- 
itics seems  to  monopolize  the  attention  of  everybody, 
and  the  entire  Bulgarian  population  is  involved  in  a 
perpetual  intrigue  with  the  freedom  of  the  Macedo- 
nians as  its  object. 

The  native  horses  are  small,  but  nervy  and  enduring. 
Domesticated  buffaloes  of  the  Asiatic  species  are  used 
for  draft  animals.  They  are  not  so  noble  in  appear- 
ance as  the  great  American  bison.  Their  necks  are 
not  shaggy,  their  heads  are  smaller  and  more  like  that 
of  ordinary  oxen.  Their  coats  are  smooth  and  sleek, 
and  the  only  resemblance  to  the  bison  which  formerly 
roamed  over  our  prairies  is  the  horns. 

There  are  several  excellent  schools  in  Sofia.  The 
technical  school  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  in  the 
suburbs  of  the  city  is  a  model  institution,  and  one  of 
the  most  interesting  and  complete  of  its  kind  I  have 
ever  visited.  It  gives  a  practical  training  in  the 
trades  and  applied  sciences  to  one  hundred  or  more 
young  men.  The  standard  of  education  is  not  high, 
but  that  is  not  needed  in  Bulgaria.  What  the  country 
requires  is  a  practical  training  of  its  mechanics  in  the 
different  trades,  as  the  people  are  generally  devoted  to 
agriculture  and  most  of  the  artisans  are  foreigners. 


202     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

The  working  classes  are  comparatively  well  off. 
There  is  no  lack  of  employment  for  all  those  who  are 
willing  to  work,  and  there  is  a  growing  demand  for 
skilled  mechanics,  who  receive  much  higher  wages 
than  in  Germany  and  Austria.  Masons,  carpenters, 
cabinet-makers,  painters,  stone-cutters  and  other 
skilled  laborers  earn  from  ^1.25  to  $2.50  a  day,  and 
ordinary  laborers  earn  from  forty  to  eighty  cents  a 
day,  which  is  nearly  double  the  average  earnings  of 
people  of  the  same  classes  in  other  European  countries. 

Meat  and  vegetables  are  cheap,  and  the  diet  of  the 
laboring  people  is  much  more  nourishing  than  is  usual 
throughout  Europe.  The  family  of  a  Bulgarian 
laborer  is  quite  as  well  fed  as  are  their  brethren  in  the 
United  States.  Except  in  the  large  cities  the  peasantry 
live  upon  their  own  produce  and  dress  in  garments  of 
sheepskin,  cotton  or  wool,  that  are  made  by  them- 
selves. Taxes  are  moderate,  compared  with  Germany 
and  France;  they  are  no  greater  than  in  Norway  and 
Sweden,  although  the  peasants  complain  bitterly  of  the 
extravagance  of  Prince  Ferdinand  and  the  amount  of 
money  spent  for  military  purposes.  The  working 
classes  are  ardent  politicians  and  are  devoted  to  the 
cause  of  Macedonian  freedom.  They  contribute  their 
money  as  liberally  and  as  patiently  as  the  servant  girls 
in  the  United  States  to  the  Irish  cause,  and  their  faith 
is  not  weakened  by  the  knowledge  that  the  funds  are 
often  squandered  in  dissipation  by  their  leaders. 

The  administration  of  justice  is  mild,  the  police  sys- 
tem is  purely  political,  and,  while  the  management  of 
the  courts  is  perhaps  not  as  perfect  as  in  more  highly 
civilized  countries,  I  am  told  that  bribery  is  unknown. 
Political  influence,  and  particularly  the  "pull"  of  the 
Macedonian  Committee,  is  all-powerful,  however.     It 


THE    PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  203 

is  practically  out  of  the  question  to  convict  of  crime 
any  man  who  has  been  active  or  conspicuous  in  this 
patriotic  movement.  It  appears  possible  for  any  dis- 
reputable fellow  to  violate  all  the  ten  commandments 
with  impunity  so  long  as  he  goes  about  the  cafes 
shouting  the  battle  cry  of  freedom  for  Macedonia. 

The  Jewish  population  of  the  Bulgarian  cities  is 
quite  large  and  practically  monopolizes  the  banking 
and  mercantile  business.  They  are  the  descendants  of 
the  large  colony  of  Jews  who  were  expelled  from 
Spain  during  the  reigns  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  and 
Philip  II.  and  found  their  way  by  the  Mediterranean 
to  the  Balkan  Provinces.  The  Spanish  language  is 
still  spoken  in  their  intercourse  among  themselves. 
While  the  Jews  are  not  persecuted  in  Bulgaria  as  in 
Roumania,  they  are  ostracized  and  subjected  to  much 
injustice.  It  is  not  considered  dishonest  to  swindle  a 
Jew  if  such  a  thing  is  possible,  and  they  are  contempt- 
uously and  roughly  treated;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  are  in  a  great  measure  to  blame  for  the  prejudice 
against  them  because  of  their  sharp  practices  and 
extortionate  methods  in  business  affairs.  They  have 
no  mercy  upon  a  Christian  if  he  once  gets  into  their 
power,  and  the  spirit  of  retaliation  seems  quite  as 
strong  with  them  as  with  their  enemies. 

Generally  speaking,  Bulgaria  has  no  manufactories, 
although  mechanical  industries  of  various  sorts  are 
being  introduced  upon  a  small  scale.  There  is  plenty 
of  convenient  water-power  and  raw  material.  The 
mineral  wealth  of  the  country  is  mythical.  There  are 
stories  of  deposits  of  coal  and  ores  in  the  mountains, 
but  they  are  unexplored.  Ninety-five  per  cent  of  the 
population  are  engaged  in  agriculture,  and  the 
peasants  are  in  a  fairly  prosperous  condition.     They 


204    1'f^^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

are  ingenious  as  well  as  industrious,  but  show  little 
tendency  to  make  use  of  modern  improvements  and 
foreign  merchandise,  or  to  depart  from  the  habits  of 
thrift  so  characteristic  of  their  race.  It  pays  them 
well  to  produce  and  export  cattle,  sheep,  hides,  wool, 
wheat,  corn,  tobacco,  the  oil  of  roses,  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, and  to  supply  their  own  wants  by  the  work  of 
their  own  hands  as  far  as  possible.  Most  of  their 
clothing  is  of  wool,  grown  and  sheared  upon  their  own 
farms,  spun  and  woven  in  their  own  cabins,  cut  and 
made  by  the  members  of  their  own  household.  For- 
merly large  quantities  of  cotton  goods  were  imported 
from  England  and  Germany,  but  they  have  learned 
that  cotton  will  grow  in  Bulgaria,  and  a  little  patch  is 
now  found  beside  nearly  every  cabin,  which  is  ginned, 
spun  and  woven  by  the  women,  like  the  wool. 

Their  taste  is  artistic.  The  women  do  beautiful 
embroidery,  and  their  cotton  garments  are  often  hand- 
somely decorated.  It  is  difficult  to  buy  these  embroid- 
eries, because  the  work  is  home-made  and  intended  for 
home  use.  The  peasants  are  well-to-do.  Their  wealth 
is  not  only  apparent  in  the  flocks  and  herds  which 
they  have  accumulated  since  the  emancipation  from 
Turkish  tyranny  twenty-three  years  ago,  but  it  is 
believed  that  they  have  large  sums  of  money  concealed 
about  their  premises.  Their  experience  with  avari- 
cious Turkish  officials  taught  them  great  caution,  for 
in  the  old  days  no  man  could  accumulate  property 
without  endangering  his  liberty  and  usually  his  life. 
Nor  have  they  yet  acquired  faith  in  banks.  Few  invest- 
ments are  available  for  them,  and  for  these  reasons 
they  bury  their  surplus  money  in  the  ground.  One  of 
the  strongest  evidences  of  this  practice  is  the  con- 
tinual disappearance  of  Bulgarian  coin   from  circula- 


THE    PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  205 

tion.  Nobody  seems  to  know  what  becomes  of  it.  It 
cannot  be  shipped  to  foreign  countries,  because  the 
balance  of  trade  is  in  favor  of  Bulgaria;  and  it  is  not 
used  in  the  arts  and  industries.  Yet  it  disappears 
almost  as  fast  as  it  is  coined,  and  the  only  explanation 
offered  is  the  prosperity  and  the  secretive  habits  of  the 
peasants. 

An  Englishman  who  traveled  through  the  country 
and  saw  much  of  peasant  life  says  that  when  he  asked 
a  man  one  day  why  they  hid  their  rhoney  in  the  ground 
he  answered  with  surprise: 

"Where  do  the  English  peasants  hide  theirs?" 

The  peasants  have  the  characteristics  of  the  other 
oriental  races,  and,  in  their  eagerness  to  acquire  wealth 
and  anxiety  to  get  the  best  of  a  bargain,  they  are  not 
surpassed  by  the  Armenian,  Arab,  Turk,  Greek,  or  Jew. 
They  are  very  sharp  traders,  economical  and  thrifty  in 
their  habits,  shrewd  in  negotiation,  and  never  miss  an 
opportunity  to  make  a  penny.  The  impression  there, 
as  in  other  parts  of  Europe,  is  that  all  Americans  are 
rich  and  reckless  with  their  money.  The  hotels,  the 
shopkeepers,  hackmen,  guides,  curio-dealers  and  every- 
one else  with  whom  strangers  come  in  contact  has  a 
special  price  for  Americans,  from  twenty  to  fifty  per 
cent  higher  than  is  paid  by  other  people.  The  waiters 
and  porters  expect  bigger  fees,  and  the  whole  com- 
munity, in  fact,  considers  an  American  traveler  a  pigeon 
to  be  plucked. 

The  peasants  are  industrious,  ingenious  and  intelli- 
gent. Both  men  and  women  are  of  fine  physique, 
capable  of  great  endurance,  and  very  few  of  them  are 
idle  or  vicious.  I  noticed  but  three  or  four  beggars 
during  my  visit  to  Bulgaria,  and  every  one  was  a 
cripple.     The  women  do  their  share  of  the  work  on 


206     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  farms,  and  seem  never  to  be  idle  a  moment. 
Holding  the  distaff  in  their  hands,  they  spin  as  they 
walk  along  the  highway  and  as  they  sit  behind  piles  of 
vegetables  in  the  market  waiting  for  customers.  They 
are  so  accustomed  to  it  that  the  work  is  done  uncon- 
sciously. They  also  care  for  the  flocks  and  herds. 
Most  of  the  shepherds  you  see  from  the  highways  or 
the  railway  trains  are  children  from  eight  years  old 
and  upward,  who  follow  the  cattle,  sheep  and  goats 
over  the  ranges.  The  large  herds  in  the  mountains 
far  from  the  towns  are  kept  by  men  and  well-grown 
boys,  and  often  young  women  are  found  among  them, 
who  sleep  in  the  open  air  with  sheepskins  wrapped 
around  them  during  the  entire  winter  season. 

The  hospitality  of  the  peasants  is  always  commented 
upon  by  travelers.  Whenever  you  enter  a  cottage  you 
are  cordially  welcomed.  The  oriental  laws  of  hospi- 
tality prevail  everywhere  in  Bulgaria  and  among  all 
classes.  No  stranger  is  ever  turned  from  the  door  if 
he  comes  in  peace,  and  the  poorest  peasant  will  share 
his  blanket  and  his  bread  without  the  asking,  and  at 
the  poorest  cottage  a  glass  of  water  or  milk,  or  a  bunch 
of  grapes  is  invariably  offered  the  visitor.  Nearly 
every  peasant  has  a  farm  of  from  five  to  fifteen  acres. 
The  cottages  of  the  owners  are  grouped  together  in  a 
little  village,  and  the  cultivated  lands,  as  in  France, 
usually  lie  at  some  distance.  There  are  no  fences, 
and  to  a  stranger  the  landmarks  are  obscure.  Every 
family  has  at  least  one  pair  of  oxen  and  forty  or  fifty 
sheep,  besides  cattle,  goats,  pigs,  geese  and  chickens, 
all  of  which  are  allowed  to  graze  upon  the  mera,  or 
common  pasture,  which  belongs  to  the  government, 
but  has  been  held  by  the  community  from  time  imme- 
morial.    A  peasant  of  one  community  is  not  allowed 


THE    PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  207 

to  use  the  pasture  belonging  to  another  unless  he  owns 
a  hut  or  garden  spot  there  to  give  him  a  title,  but  there 
is  no  limit  to  the  extent  of  pasture.  He  may  have  only 
ten  sheep  or  cows,  or  he  may  have  a  thousand — they 
are  all  entitled  to  their  share  of  the  common  range. 
If  a  man  wishes  to  sell  his  place  his  next-door  neighbor 
has  the  option.  No  stranger  is  permitted  to  acquire 
property  that  any  member  of  the  community  desires 
to  purchase,  and  public  opinion  will  regulate  the  price. 
Fruit  is  plentiful,  and  in  the  valleys  there  is  a  suc- 
cession of  vineyards  which  produce  an  excellent  wine. 
All  ordinary  vegetables  known  to  the  temperate  zone 
are  cultivated,  and  tobacco  and  cotton  grow  well. 
Although  the  soil  has  been  producing  for  more  than 
twenty  centuries,  no  fertilizers  are  used.  The  revenue 
from  the  manufacture  of  attar  of  roses  amounts  to 
more  than  Si, 000, 000  annually.  You  can  buy  it  in 
little  gilded  glass  flagons  at  shops  where  Turkish 
goods  are  sold.  The  town  of  Shipka,  where  was 
fought  the  decisive  battle  of  the  Russo-Turkish  war 
on  the  7th  of  July,  1877,  is  the  center  of  the  rose 
gardens.  Upon  the  battlefield  are  many  memorials 
of  that  great  struggle  in  the  form  of  monuments, 
crucifixes,  pyramids  of  cannon  balls,  cannons  and 
crosses,  scattered  over  a  large  area,  erected  by  the 
survivors  of  different  regiments  that  were  engaged  in 
the  battle,  in  memory  of  their  officers  and  comrades, 
and  many  of  them  mark  the  burial  places  of  officers 
and  men  who  distinguished  themselves  in  the  fight.  In 
the  center  of  the  field  is  an  imposing  obelisk  erected 
by  Alexander  II.  of  Russia  to  commemorate  the  victory 
of  General  Gourko,  who  commanded  his  troops.  It 
bears  an  appropriate  inscription  upon  the  pedestal, 
and  upon  the  shaft  is  engraved  a  representation  of  the 


208    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Russian  coat  of  arms,  with  crossed  rifles  and  flags 
beneath  it.  Upon  the  top  of  the  shaft  is  a  spear  and  a 
cross. 

The  climate  and  soil  of  that  part  of  Bulgaria  are 
unusually  favorable  for  rose  culture,  and  for  miles 
around  the  fields  are  full  of  the  most  luxuriant  roses, 
which  are  cultivated  like  the  grapevines  in  the  valleys 
and  on  the  mountain  slopes  farther  west.  The  rose 
fields  cover  altogether  many  thousand  acres.  The 
bushes  are  carefully  pruned,  so  that  all  the  strength  of 
the  sap  may  go  into  the  flowers,  and  from  the  middle 
of  June  until  the  last  of  October  women  with  bags 
hanging  over  their  shoulders  go  through  them  daily 
plucking  the  flowers  that  have  reached  maturity.  At 
night  they  take  their  harvests  home,  where  the  petals 
are  carefully  removed,  placed  in  kettles  similar  to  an 
ordinary  still,  and  the  oil  extracted  by  steam.  Thou- 
sands of  tons  of  rose  leaves  are  thus  gathered  annually, 
and  the  oil  produced  is  worth  at  the  distillery  from  $50 
to  $75  a  pound.  A  single  drop  will  perfume  a  two- 
ounce  bottle  of  alcohol.  Much  of  the  product  is  sent 
to  Paris  and  Vienna,  the  remainder  to  Constanti- 
nople, 

Philippopolis,  the  second  city  in  population  and 
importance  in  Bulgaria,  is  a  famous  old  town,  founded 
by  Philip  of  Macedon  about  the  year  350  B.C.,  and  its 
history  has  been  both  romantic  and  exciting.  It  is 
picturesquely  situated  upon  three  hills  of  granite  and 
has  several  fine  buildings  and  churches  of  every  relig- 
ious denomination.  The  Alexander  Gymnasium,  for 
boys,  established  by  the  late  prince,  is  perhaps  the 
most  progressive  educational  institution  in  the  whole 
country  and  has  exerted  a  wide  influence.  There  is  a 
government  school  for  the  higher  education  of  girls 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  209 

also,  which  has  done  much  towards  the  advancement  of 
women.  In  the  market  place  at  Philippopolis  you  see 
all  sorts  of  costumes,  for  nearly  every  oriental  race  h 
represented  in  the  population.  The  Bulgarian  is 
distinguished  by  the  kalpak,  a  headdress  of  lamb's 
wool,  and  the  Turk  by  his  fez.  The  Turkish  women 
wrap  their  faces  in  muslin  veils  or  shawls,  but  the  Bul- 
garian women  follow  the  European  custom  and  do 
not  attempt  to  conceal  their  features. 

According  to  the  census  of  1893,  and  there  has  been 
very  little  change  since,  the  population  of  Bulgaria  is 
3,310,713,  and  is  composed  of  2,505,326  Bulgarians, 
569,728  Turks,  58,518  Greeks,  13,260  gypsies,  27,531 
Spanish-speaking  Jews,  16,298  Tartars  and  representa- 
tives of  nearly  every  other  race  on  earth.  The 
national  faith  is  that  of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church, 
although  in  1870  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople 
excommunicated  the  entire  Bulgarian  people  in  conse- 
quence of  their  persistent  demands  for  religious  inde- 
pendence and  autonomy.  Since  then  the  church  has 
been  governed  by  a  synod  of  twelve  bishops,  and  is 
under  the  care  of  the  minister  of  education,  the  clergy 
being  paid  by  the  government.  In  1893  the  members 
of  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church  numbered  2,606,786, 
the  Mohammedans  643,258,  the  Roman  Catholics 
22,617,  and  the  Protestants  about  3,500. 

Protestant  missionaries  from  the  United  States  have 
been  at  work  in  Bulgaria  ever  since  the  establishment 
of  an  independent  government,  the  field  being  divided 
between  the  Methodists,  who  have  the  territory  north 
of  the  Balkan  Mountains,  and  the  American  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  who  are  engaged  in  the  southern 
part  and  in  Eastern  Rumelia. 

The  Bulgarians  generally  commend  the  missionaries 


210 


The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 


and  tell  of  the  great  good  that  they  have  done.  The 
newspapers  speak  well  of  them,  and  the  government 
officials  have  nothing  but  commendation  for  their  edu- 
cational and  charitable  work,  although  their  evangelical 
labors  are  not  encouraged.  The  government  is  willing 
that  they  should  educate  the  people,  take  care  of 
them  when  they  are  sick,  feed  them  when  they  are 
hungry  and  clothe  them  when  they  are  naked,  but  nat- 
urally does  not  approve  of  the  efforts  to  convert  them 
from  the  Greek  to  the  Protestant  faith.  The  Greek 
clergy  are  generally  bitter  and  at  times  fanatical  in  their 
opposition,  except  in  the  large  cities,  where  there  is  a 
cosmopolitan  spirit.  The  Turks  have  very  little  to  say 
in  Bulgaria,  but  treat  Protestants  much  more  amiably 
than  they  treat  the  Greeks,  and  are  particularly  friendly 
with  the  missionaries.  The  American  colony  very  sel- 
dom has  any  difficulties  with  the  Turks.  The  Russians, 
whose  influence  in  Bulgaria  is  greater  than  that  of  any 
other  foreign  people,  and  who  control  the  policy  of 
the  government,  are  even  more  opposed  to  the  evan- 
gelical work  of  the  missionaries  than  the  natives, 
because  of  their  connection  with  the  Greek  Church  and 
their  hereditary  disapproval  of  the  education  of  the 
common  people.  Personally,  however,  missionaries 
are  often  friendly  with  the  Russian  residents.  That 
depends,  however,  largely  upon  their  individuality. 
Miss  Stone,  for  example,  is  a  great  favorite  among 
them,  as  she  is  everywhere,  and  the  greatest  degree 
of  anxiety  was  shown  by  the  Russian  colony  for  her 
rescue. 

The  Methodists  in  northern  Bulgaria  have  eight 
houses  of  worship,  valued  at  $31,500.  Most  of  them 
have  parsonages  attached.  There  are  eleven  American 
and  native  missionaries,  four  hundred  and   thiity-four 


THE   PEOPLE   OF    BULGARIA  211 

communicants,  forty-three  probationers,  thirteen 
schools  and  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  pupils. 

The  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  has  been  at 
work  in  that  country  since  1858,  when  the  first  mission 
station  was  established  at  Adrianople.  It  has  three 
stations  in  Bulgaria.  At  Philippopolis  there  is  a 
church  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  native  members  under 
the  care  of  Rev.  George  L.  Marsh,  a  veteran  who  has 
just  completed  the  finest  Protestant  house  of  worship 
in  the  East,  and  dedicated  it  in  November,  1901.  At 
Sofia  there  is  a  self-supporting  church  of  three  hundred 
members  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Marko  Popoff,  and  a 
large  school  at  Samakov,  under  the  direction  of 
Messrs.  Haskell,  Clark  and  Baird.  The  work  in  Ru- 
melia  is  under  the  direction  of  Rev.  John  Henry 
House,  who  resides  at  Salonika,  where  there  is  a  flour- 
ishing church.  There  is  another  station  at  Monastir. 
Altogether  the  American  Board  has  nine  missionaries 
in  Bulgaria  and  East  Rumelia,  seven  American  lady 
teachers,  three  established  schools  for  the  higher  edu- 
cation of  both  men  and  women,  and  one  kindergar- 
ten. Its  last  reports  show  fifteen  organized  churches 
with  regular  preaching,  fifty  places  with  irregular 
preaching,  twelve  houses  of  worship,  about  fifteen 
hundred  communicants,  and  an  annual  average  attend- 
ance in  1901  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty-six  at  worship 
and  eight  hundred  and  forty-two  at  the  Sunday-school. 
There  is  a  large  church  at  Bansko,  the  place  Miss  Stone 
started  to  visit  on  the  morning  of  her  capture,  which 
has  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  and  a  house  of 
worship  which  cost  $6,000. 

American  mission  work  in  Bulgaria  and  Macedonia 
is  divided  into  three  departments — publication,  educa- 
tion and  evangelical.    There  is  a  Bulgarian  publication 


212     77/^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

society  for  both  secular  and  religious  literature  which 
maintains  a  printing  office,  a  bookstore  and  a  well- 
patronized  free  public  reading-room  at  Sofia.  It  has 
circulated  thousands  of  copies  of  the  best  American 
literature  translated  into  the  Bulgarian  language,  and 
formerly  published  a  weekly  newspaper,  which  has 
been  revived  in  Philippopolis  recently  with  a  nati\'e 
Bulgarian  editor.  The  Bible  was  translated  into  Bul- 
garian in  1872  by  the  late  Dr.  Riggs  and  Dr.  Long,  and 
thousands  of  copies  are  sold  annually.  The  Methodists 
are  also  circulating  both  religious  and  secular  litera- 
ture with  great  energy,  and  find  that  it  awakens  an 
interest  among  the  natives  to  learn  more,  stimulates 
their  ambition,  broadens  their  ideas,  and  encourages 
them  to  improve  their  own  schools  and  extend  the 
facilities  for  the  education  of  the  coming  generation. 
If  the  missionaries  in  Bulgaria  had  done  nothing  else 
than  create  this  public  sentiment  their  labors  in  Bul- 
garia would  have  been  well  repaid.  They  have  been 
the  pioneers  of  a  general-education  system,  in  which 
the  government  has  recently  shown  a  decided  interest; 
they  have  inspired  a  temperance  movement,  they  have 
broken  the  bonds  that  restrained  the  women  of  the 
country,  and  wherever  their  influence  extends  may  be 
found  a  radical  change  from  the  social,  educational 
and  moral  conditions  which  existed  when  independ- 
ence was  estaljlished  twenty-four  years  ago. 

The  schools  at  Samakov  for  the  education  of 
teachers  and  preachers  have  compelled  the  govern- 
ment to  establish  similar  institutions  to  satisfy  the 
demands  of  the  public;  and  a  model  kindergarten, 
maintained  by  Miss  Clark  at  Sofia,  is  being  imitated 
under  the  direction  of  the  minister  of  education.  Miss 
Clark  is  a  great  favorite  in  Sofia.    She  is  a  daughter  of 


THE    PEOPLE    OF    BULGARIA  213 

Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  one  of  the  missionaries  in  charge  of 
the  schools  at  Samakov,  and  she  is  assisted  by  two 
graduates  of  those  institutions.  We  visited  her  kinder- 
garten one  morning  and  found  twenty-eight  black-eyed 
urchins  engaged  in  making  baskets  and  building  barns 
with  blocks.  They  are  the  children  of  the  best  fam- 
ilies in  Sofia — bankers,  merchants,  professional  men 
and  government  officials,  who  patronize  the  missionary 
kindergarten  from  self-interest  and  not  because  they 
belong  to  the  Protestant  Church.  The  popularity  and 
success  of  Miss  Clark's  kindergarten  has  been  recog- 
nized throughout  the  entire  kingdom,  and  before  long 
kindergarten  work  will  be  recognized  as  a  necessary 
part  of  the  system  of  public  education. 

The  Protestants  in  Bulgaria  are  trying  to  raise  money 
to  endow  the  schools  at  Samakov  and  want  help  from 
America.  They  recognize  that  the  influence  of  those 
schools  is  wider  and  more  permanent  than  that  of  any 
other  branch  of  work  in  which  they  are  engaged, 
because  the  chief  object  is  to  train  teachers  for  the 
native  schools.  There  is  a  great  demand  for  teachers, 
which,  with  the  rapid  development  of  the  educational 
system,  far  exceeds  the  supply,  and  the  graduates  of 
the  missionary  schools  at  Samakov  command  the 
highest  positions  and  do  the  greatest  amount  of  good. 
It  is  not  necessary  that  they  should  profess  the  Prot- 
estant faith.  That  is  a  matter  of  minor  importance, 
and  the  missionaries  feel  that  if  they  can  thoroughly 
educate  the  people  their  object  will  be  attained. 

The  government  has  recently  passed  a  law  providing 
for  compulsory  education  and  requiring  the  attendance 
at  school  of  all  children  between  the  ages  of  eight  and 
twelve  years.  The  schools  are  free  to  the  peasants, 
but  those  who  can  afford  to  pay  are  taxed  $4  a  year  for 


214    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  elementary  branches  and  a  corresponding  amount 
for  the  higher  schools.  Two-thirds  of  the  cost  of  the 
free  schools  is  paid  by  the  general  government,  the 
remainder  by  the  municipalities  and  village  authorities. 
The  appropriation  in  1901  for  education  was  about 
$1,500,000,  which  supported  4,589  primary  schools 
with  7,998  teachers  and  336,000  pupils,  one  hundred 
and  seventy  high  schools  with  1,477  teachers  and 
33,700  pupils,  forty-five  technical  schools  with  255 
teachers  and  4,640  pupils,  and  seventeen  preparatory 
schools  with  569  teachers  and  13,892  pupils. 

There  is  a  university  at  Sofia  with  three  faculties- 
law,  medicine  and  science— forty-two  professors  and 
lecturers  and  four  hundred  and  nine  students.  At 
present  it  is  occupying  a  temporary  building,  but  is 
doing  good  work  and  promises  increased  influence. 

It  is  gratifying  to  find  in  this  far-off  country  ladies 
and  gentlemen  who  have  been  educated  in  the  United 
States  and  are  familiar  with  American  institutions. 
The  most  influential  woman  in  Bulgaria  is  Mrs.  Ivan  B. 
Kassuroff,  who  was  a  pupil  of  Miss  Stone.  She  is 
notable  for  having  been  the  first  Bulgarian  woman  to 
engage  in  active  mercantile  business.  She  violated 
the  customs  and  traditions  of  the  country  and  for  a 
time  created  considerable  stir,  but  Mme.  Kassuroff's 
character  and  abilities  have  not  only  carried  her 
through  a  trying  ordeal,  but  have  gained  for  her  the 
respect,  confidence  and  admiration  of  the  entire  popu- 
lation, and  she  now  has  many  imitators.  She  opened 
the  field  of  business  for  women.  Although  the  native 
citizens,  with  their  oriental  conservatism,  had  a  he- 
reditary prejudice  against  women  engaging  in  business 
enterprises,  they  now  lift  their  hats  to  Mme.  Kassuroff 
when  they  meet  her  in  the  street. 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   BULGARIA  215 

Mme.  Kassuroff's  business  career,  however,  was  not 
entirely  voluntary.  Her  husband  was  proprietor  of 
the  principal  bookstore  in  Sofia,  and  in  1874  died, 
leaving  no  one  to  carry  on  his  profitable  business. 
Rather  than  make  a  sacrifice,  his  widow  assumed  the 
responsibility,  has  since  taken  personal  charge  of  it, 
has  developed  remarkable  capacity,  and,  as  I  have 
said,  is  honored  and  admired  by  all  classes.  She 
supplies  the  government  with  books  and  stationery, 
and  her  shop  is  known  as  the  "Court  Book  Store." 
It  stands  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  public  square 
from  the  palace.  She  is  a  typical  example  of  what  an 
American  education  and  American  ideas  introduced  by 
the  missionaries  can  do  for  a  Bulgarian  woman,  and 
illustrates  the  advancement  women  have  made  in  the 
East  under  missionary  influence. 

Mrs.  Popoff,  wife  of  the  pastor  of  the  Protestant 
church  in  Sofia,  is  also  a  graduate  of  the  Painesville 
(Ohio)  Seminary,  and  has  done  much  to  bring  Ameri- 
can ideas  into  the  family  circles  of  Bulgaria  and 
develop  the  ambition  and  independence  of  Bulgarian 
women.  Her  husband,  Rev.  Marko  N.  Popoff,  is  a 
graduate  of  Hamilton  College,  was  prepared  at  Fre- 
donia.  New  York,  and  took  a  course  in  theology 
at  Auburn  Seminary.  Altogether  he  spent  about 
eleven  years  in  America,  is  a  fine  all-round  scholar,  an 
orator  of  ability,  and  exercises  a  large  and  growing 
influence.  His  church  is  always  crowded  and  he  is  a 
popular  lecturer. 

Another  American  product  is  Stoyan  Kristoff 
Vatralsky,  a  son  of  a  Bulgarian  shepherd,  who  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  in  1894,  was  class  poet,  and  was 
engaged  in  literary  work  and  on  the  lecture  platform 
in  the  United  States  until  recently,  preparing  himself 


2i6    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

for  educational  and  literary  work  in  his  own  country. 
Mr.  Vatralsky  is  a  graduate  of  the  missionary  school 
at  Samakov,  where  he  was  inspired  with  an  ambition 
to  go  to  the  United  States  and  prepare  himself  for 
greater  usefulness  to  his  fellow  countrymen. 

The  supreme  representative  of  Russia  in  Bulgaria 
to-day  is  Mr.  Bakhmeteff,  a  diplomatist  of  great 
talent,  learning  and  long  experience,  who  disguises  his 
cleverness  under  an  air  of  cynical  indifference.  He  is 
v/ell  known  in  the  United  States,  for  he  has  spent 
much  time  in  Washington,  his  wife  being  a  daughter  of 
the  late  General  Edward  F.  Beale,  who  was  General 
Grant's  roommate  at  West  Point  and  his  most  inti- 
mate friend  for  a  lifetime.  Mme.  Bakhmeteff  is  as 
clever  as  her  husband,  and  although  she  naturally 
sympathizes  with  his  efforts  to  keep  Bulgaria  within 
the  Russian  "sphere  of  influence,"  she  is  thoroughly 
American  in  her  habits  and  sympathies.  To  her  benev- 
olent spirit  is  due  the  establishment  of  several  much 
needed  charities  in  Bulgaria.  She  organized  a  free 
hospital  and  interested  in  her  work  the  Czarina,  who  at 
her  own  expense  sent  to  Sofia  a  staff  of  nurses  from  a 
Russian  religious  sisterhood.  Mme.  Bakhmeteff  also 
introduced  the  Red  Cross  Society  into  Bulgaria,  has 
interested  herself  in  the  improvements  of  the  schools, 
and  as  the  social  leader  of  the  capital  has  made  chari- 
table work  fashionable  among  the  Bulgarian  women.  She 
has  also  started  a  school  for  trained  nurses,  in  which 
other  ladies  of  high  position  take  an  active  interest. 

While  his  wife  is  engaged  in  charitable  work  Mr. 
Bakhmeteff  keeps  the  government  straight.  The 
prime  minister  never  does  anything  of  importance 
without  consulting  him,  and  his  advice  is  equivalent 
to  an  order  from  the  Czar. 


XI 


THE  KIDNAPING  OF  MISS  STONE 

The  capture  and  detention  for  five  months  and 
twenty  days — from  the  3d  of  September,  1901,  to  the 
23d  of  February,  1902 — of  Miss  Ellen  M.  Stone,  a 
representative  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  and  her  companion,  Mrs.  Katarina  Stephan- 
ova  Tsilka,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Gregory  Tsilka,  has 
excited  much  interest  in  Bulgarian  affairs  and  the 
cause  of  Macedonian  liberty,  but  failed  to  provoke 
intervention  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  or  the 
European  nations,  as  the  conspirators  hoped  it  might 
do.  That  was  undoubtedly  their  chief  purpose,  and  it 
was  successful  only  so  far  as  it  attracted  public  atten- 
tion to  the  condition  of  anarchy  that  prevails  in 
Rumelia  and  the  dangers  with  which  missionaries  and 
other  foreigners  are  surrounded. 

Miss  Stone  is  well  known  in  Sofia  and  throughout  all 
the  Balkan  Provinces.  She  has  been  engaged  in  mis- 
sionary work  in  that  region  ever  since  the  independ- 
ence of  Bulgaria  was  established  at  the  close  of  the 
Russo-Turkish  war.  Her  headquarters  have  been  at 
Salonika,  a  Turkish  port  on  the  Mediterranean,  which 
was  formerly  known  as  Thessalonica.  St.  Paul 
addressed  his  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  to  its 
inhabitants,  and  the  city  is  otherwise  identified  with 
important  events  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  Rev. 
John  H.  House  of  Painesville,  Ohio,  whose  influence 
and  usefulness  extend  beyond  the  borders  of  Bulgaria, 
where  he  was  a  pioneer  in  missionary  work,  has  charge 

217 


21 8     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

of  the  headquarters  at  Salonika,  and  Miss  Stone  has 
been  associated  with  him  for  many  years.  Her 
especial  duties  have  been  to  supervise  the  educational 
work,  and  it  has  been  her  habit  to  travel  on  horseback 
throughout  the  country,  opening  schools,  establishing 
native  teachers  and  looking  after  their  work.  In  this 
way  she  has  acquired  a  wide  acquaintance  and  is  uni- 
versally respected  and  beloved,  not  only  by  the 
Protestant  converts,  but  by  all  classes.  In  her  own 
personal  narrative  she  says: 

"During  the  frequent  missionary  tours  which  I  have 
made  in  Macedonia  during  the  last  twenty  years  and 
more,  I  have  often  been  conscious  of  danger  from  the 
brigands  who  have  long  infested  that  country.  Thrice 
before  my  capture  I  had  come  into  personal  contact 
with  them.  Once  I  spent  the  night  in  the  common 
room  of  a  khan  or  inn  with  a  brigand  sleeping  on  the 
other  side  of  the  fire;  once  two  horses  were  stolen  from 
the  party  with  which  I  was  traveling;  and  the  third 
time  two  bandits  stopped  us  on  the  road,  but  hesitated 
as  to  what  manner  of  people  we  were,  and  so  let  us 
pass.  On  our  journey  in  September,  however,  we  had 
no  thought  of  fear.  Only  three  weeks  before,  I  had 
come  to  Bansko  by  way  of  Strumitza  and  Djumia  with 
two  Bulgarian  ladies,  teachers  in  our  village  schools, 
accompanied  only  by  a  muleteer  and  a  young  native 
boy.  We  had  ridden  through  a  wild  and  rugged 
country,  spending  four  days  on  the  road,  sleeping  one 
night  in  a  native  house,  and  two  in  khans,  all  without 
molestation.  I  had,  indeed,  traversed  the  road  on 
which  we  were  finally  captured  many  times  before, 
and,  knowing  the  people  and  their  ways,  I  was 
conscious  of  all  the  safety  of  long  familiarity." 

Mr.    Tsilka    is    an    Albanian    by   birth,    from    the 


THE   KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE     219 

province  adjoining  Macedonia  on  the  west,  was  edu- 
cated in  the  missionary  schools  at  Monastir  and  Sama- 
kov,  and  afterwards  took  a  course  in  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  New  York  City.  He  is  pastor  of  a  native 
church  at  Kortcha,  Albania,  and  for  several  years, 
with  the  assistance  of  his  wife,  has  conducted  a  school 
there.  Mrs.  Tsilka,  a  Bulgarian,  and  a  native  of 
Bansko,  was  visiting  her  parents  in  that  town  for 
several  weeks  before  her  capture.  Like  her  husband, 
she  is  a  graduate  of  the  mission  school  at  Samakov, 
completed  her  education  at  Northfield,  Massachusetts, 
and  afterwards  graduated  from  the  Presbyterian  Train- 
ing School  for  nurses  in  New  York  City. 

They  had  been  attending  a  summer  school  for 
teachers  at  Bansko,  and,  with  several  members  of  the 
class,  started  on  horseback  for  their  respective  homes 
on  the  3d  of  September,  1901.  Miss  Stone's  journey 
led  her  towards  the  railway  which  runs  from  Budapest 
to  Salonika.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tsilka  and  Mr.  Dimitsoff, 
her  father,  were  on  their  way  to  Albania,  and  the  rest 
of  the  party  expected  to  leave  them  at  various  stations 
on  the  road  which  crosses  the  Perion  range  of  the 
Balkan  Mountains.  Seven  of  the  party  were  men,  but 
only  one  of  them  was  armed.  Upon  a  rough  mountain 
trail  between  Bansko  and  Djumia,  after  three  hours' 
journey,  they  sat  down  under  the  forest  trees  to  eat 
their  luncheon  and  feed  their  animals,  when  they  were 
captured  by  a  band  of  alleged  brigands  variously  esti- 
mated from  twelve  to  forty.     Miss  Stone  says: 

'They  were  of  various  ages— some  bearded,  fierce  of 
face  and  wild  of  dress;  some  younger,  but  all  athletic 
and  heavily  armed.  Some  wore  suits  of  brown  home- 
spun, some  Turkish  uniforms  with  red  or  white  fezzes, 
while  others  were  in  strange  and  nondescript  attire. 


220    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

One  had  his  face  so  bound  up  in  a  red  handkerchief  as 
to  be  unrecognizable;  others  with  faces  horribly 
blackened  and  disguised  with  what  looked  like  rags 
bobbing  over  their  foreheads — the  knotted  corners  of 
their  handkerchiefs,  as  we  afterwards  learned. 

'Their  rifles  and  accouterments  seemed  fresh  and 
new,  and  they  also  carried  revolvers  and  daggers  in 
their  belts,  with  a  plentiful  and  evident  supply  of  car- 
tridges. They  had  undoubtedly  intended  to  fill  us  with 
terror  at  the  sight  of  them — and  truly  horrible  they 
looked. 

"Mr.  Tsilka  had  given  his  wife  his  watch  and  money; 
the  latter  she  secreted  in  her  mouth,  and  tucked  the 
watch  under  her  belt,  as  she  supposed,  but  it  slipped 
below  and  showed.  One  of  the  brigands  called  her 
attention  to  it,  sarcastically  remarking  that  she  had 
better  put  it  away  more  securely.  He  could  not  have 
alarmed  her  more;  if  the  brigands  did  not  want  our 
money  and  watches,  what  could  be  their  purpose!" 

The  brigands  seemed  to  be  on  friendly  terms  with 
George  Toderoff,  the  guide  of  Miss  Stone's  party,  who 
had  been  employed  at  Bansko,  and  was  afterwards 
arrested  as  an  accomplice,  but  was  released  by  the  Bul- 
garian government  without  trial  or  examination  and 
against  the  protest  of  the  diplomatic  agent  of  the 
United  States.  They  showed  no  disposition  to  rob  or 
injure  any  member  of  the  party,  although  they 
promptly  and  in  cold  blood  murdered  an  unarmed 
Turk  who  happened  to  be  passing  along  the  trail,  and 
who,  they  no  doubt  feared,  might  communicate  their 
movements  to  the  authorities.  As  soon  as  a  conve- 
nient place  was  reached,  the  brigands  instructed  the 
party  to  go  into  camp,  and  repeatedly  assured  them 
that  they  need  fear  no  harm.     No  threats  of  violence 


THE    KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE     221 

were  made  and  no  insults  offered,  as  is  customary 
when  Turks  encounter  Christians.  No  Christian 
woman  can  expect  to  escape  insult  and  seldom  injury 
if  she  meets  a  Turkish  soldier  in  Macedonia;  but  Miss 
Stone,  being  an  American  of  strong  character  and  past 
middle  age,  has  usually  been  treated  with  respect.  If 
her  captors  had  been  Turks  the  proceedings  would 
have  been  entirely  different  from  what  actually 
occurred,  and  the  three  young  women  teachers, 
especially,  would  have  had  an  entirely  different  expe- 
rience. This  circumstance  is  the  strongest  kind  of  evi- 
dence that  their  captors  were  Bulgarians.  The  party 
went  into  camp,  and  during  the  evening  the  brigands 
disappeared,  taking  with  them  Miss  Stone  and  Mrs. 
Tsilka  and  two  horses.  If  they  had  been  Turks  their 
captives  would  have  been  stripped  of  everything  valu- 
able and  their  animals  would  have  been  stolen,  but  not 
an  article  was  missing.  The  luggage  was  undisturbed 
and  the  brigands  did  not  even  help  themselves  to  the 
food  supplies  provided  for  the  journey. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  fall  and  the  succeeding 
winter,  until  February  23,  1902,  the  captives  were  kept 
moving  from  place  to  place  in  the  mountains,  suffering 
considerable  privation  and  discomfort,  but,  as  both  Miss 
Stone  and  Mrs.  Tsilka  testify,  they  were  treated  with 
invariable  respect  and  kindness,  and  were  as  well  sup- 
plied with  the  necessaries  of  life  as  was  possible  in  that 
primitive  country.  They  seemed  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  their  captives  and  took  a  great  deal  of  care 
and  trouble  to  protect  them  from  exposure  and  injury, 
and  in  November,  when  Mrs.  Tsilka' s  child  was  born, 
they  brought  an  old  woman  from  some  unknown 
quarter  to  assist  as  a  nurse. 

In  the  meantime  there  was  great  excitement  in  Sofia 


222     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

and  other  parts  of  Bulgaria.  In  the  United  States 
public  meetings  were  held  in  many  places  and  liberal 
contributions  made  towards  a  fund  to  ransom  Miss 
Stone  and  her  companion,  and  the  secretary  of  state 
ordered  Mr.  Charles  M.  Dickinson,  the  American 
consul-general  at  Constantinople,  to  Sofia,  the  capital 
of  Bulgaria,  with  instructions  to  use  his  best  efforts  to 
secure  the  release  of  the  captives. 

On  the  morning  of  September  4,  after  the  disappear- 
ance of  their  captors  with  Miss  Stone  and  Mrs.  Tsilka, 
that  lady's  husband  and  father,  with  the  other  men  in 
the  party,  made  a  careful  examination  of  the  country 
around  them,  but  could  find  no  trace  of  the  women  or 
the  brigands  except  their  trail,  which  led  over  the 
mountains  back  towards  Bulgaria.  The  entire  day  was 
spent  in  the  search.  The  husband  and  the  father  of 
Mrs.  Tsilka,  almost  overcome  with  grief  and  conster- 
nation, pursued  their  fruitless  search  through  the  next 
night,  and  as  there  were  no  further  signs  of  the 
brigands  decided  to  return  to  Bansko  and  give  an 
alarm.  Messengers  had  already  been  sent  there,  and 
to  notify  the  missionary  colony  at  Samakov,  but, 
strange  to  say,  the  news  of  the  capture  preceded  them 
and  was  whispered  about  the  streets  by  Cyril  Vaciloff 
and  other  Macedonian  revolutionists,  who  appeared  to 
know  all  about  it.  They  also  predicted  the  amount  of 
ransom  that  would  be  demanded  before  anything  had 
been  heard  from  the  brigands.  The  demand,  which 
was  contained  in  a  letter  written  by  Miss  Stone  in  the 
Bulgarian  language  to  the  treasurer  of  the  mission- 
ary board,  was  dictated  by  some  person  of  intelli- 
gence. The  language  and  the  forms  of  expression 
used  were  very  unlike  her  literary  style.  There  was 
no  doubt,  however,  of  the  penmanship.     That  letter 


THE   KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE     223 

was  thrown  into  the  window  of  the  house  of  mission- 
ary Haskell  at  Samakov  during  the  night,  and  his 
daughter  identified  Vaciloff  in  the  moonlight  while 
trying  to  open  the  window.  A  local  newspaper 
friendly  to  the  Macedonian  cause  published  the 
important  part  of  the  contents  of  the  letter  before  they 
were  made  known  by  the  missionaries,  including  the 
amount  of  ransom  demanded. 

This  and  other  circumstances  make  it  very  clear 
that  Vaciloff  intended  or  expected  to  be  the  medium  of 
negotiation  for  Miss  Stone's  release,  and  his  failure  was 
undoubtedly  due  to  his  arrest,  which  frightened  him 
and  induced  him  to  deny  all  knowledge  of  the  affair. 
The  missionaries  and  the  United  States  consul-general 
were  not  allowed  to  question  him  or  communicate  with 
him  while  he  was  in  jail.  He  was  released  by  the 
order  of  the  authorities  at  Sofia  upon  the  pretext  that 
no  evidence  had  been  offered  against  him,  although  no 
one  had  been  invited  to  present  evidence.  No  attempt 
was  made  by  anybody  to  secure  evidence.  The  mis- 
sionaries and  Consul-general  Dickinson  were  not 
informed  of  the  decision  to  release  him,  and  they  did 
not  know  of  his  release  until  they  saw  the  announce- 
ment in  the  newspapers.  The  only  inference  to  be 
drawn  from  this  unusual  procedure  was  that  the  offi- 
cials and  the  managers  of  the  Macedonian  Revolution- 
ary Committee  realized  the  complications  that  might 
ensue  with  the  United  States,  the  damage  their  cause 
would  suffer  before  the  world  and  the  odium  they 
would  be  compelled  to  endure  if  Vaciloff' s  plans  were 
carried  out. 

Cyril  Vaciloff  is  a  young  adventurer,  who  had  been 
acting  as  president  of  the  Macedonian  Committee  at 
Samakov,  a  small  town  near  the  border,  about  fifty 


224    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

miles  south  of  Sofia,  in  the  foothills  of  the  Balkan 
Mountains.  That  is  the  missionaries'  headquarters, 
where  a  large  school  for  young  men  and  women  has 
been  conducted  ever  since  Bulgarian  independence. 
Its  graduates  may  be  found  occupying  important  posi- 
tions in  every  part  of  the  country,  and  the  good  it  has 
accomplished  directly  and  indirectly  is  incalculable. 
Cyril  Vaciloff  was  educated  at  this  school.  His  father 
was  formerly  a  man  of  some  importance,  but  intemper- 
ance ruined  him.  His  mother  was  a  good  woman  and 
was  quite  intimate  with  the  missionary  families  up  to 
her  death.  Although  she  remained  a  member  of  the 
Greek  Church,  she  frequently  attended  Protestant 
worship  and  sent  her  children  to  the  Protestant  school. 
Young  Vaciloff  was  a  bright  scholar  and  a  fluent 
speaker,  with  considerable  literary  talent,  but  was 
always  wild  and  restless,  fond  of  notoriety  and  unreli- 
able in  character.  He  never  earned  a  dollar  in  his  life, 
but  went  into  politics  while  a  mere  boy,  and  for  several 
years  lived  off  the  contributions  for  Macedonian  free- 
dom. He  is  a  popular  cafe  orator,  writes  pamphlets  in 
support  of  the  Macedonian  cause,  and  is  an  active, 
eloquent  and  effective  agitator.  In  the  spring  of  1901, 
after  the  reorganization  of  the  Macedonian  Committee, 
he  called  upon  Mr.  Clark,  superintendent  of  the 
mission  at  Samakov,  and  requested  a  contribution  for 
the  Macedonian  cause.  Mr.  Clark  explained  that 
while  his  sympathies  were  with  the  Macedonians  in 
their  struggle  for  liberty,  it  would  be  impolitic  and 
unwise  for  foreigners,  and  especially  for  missionaries, 
to  subscribe  to  political  funds.  They  were  working  in 
Turkey,  as  well  as  in  Bulgaria,  and  must  keep  on 
terms  with  the  Sultan.  Vaciloff  was  not  satisfied  with 
this  explanation,  and  shortly  after  his  visit  Mr.  Clark 


THE    KIDNAPING    OF   MISS   STONE     225 

received  a  written  warning  that  unless  a  prompt  con- 
tribution was  made  to  the  Macedonian  cause  the  mis- 
sionaries would  regret  it.  This  threat  was  followed  by 
an  incendiary  fire  and  the  destruction  of  the  barn 
attached  to  the  mission  establishment.  Mr.  Clark 
then  received  another  letter  from  Vaciloff  saying  that 
the  barn  caught  fire  from  an  electric  spark,  and  that 
another  would  soon  fall  in  the  same  neighborhood 
unless  $2,500  were  immediately  forthcoming.  No 
notice  was  taken  of  this  threat  except  to  solicit  police 
protection,  and  nothing  happened. 

During  the  summer  of  1901  the  missionaries  fre- 
quently heard  of  threats  made  by  him  and  by  others 
associated  with  the  Macedonian  cause,  and  Vaciloff 
frequently  remarked  that  the  Protestants  would  soon  be 
compelled  to  pay  a  large  sum  into  the  treasury  whether 
they  wanted  to  or  not.  He  was  the  first  to  learn  of 
the  capture  of  Miss  Stone;  he  was  the  first  to  announce 
that  $110,000  was  the  sum  fixed  for  her  ransom,  and  as 
I  have  said,  he  was  identified  as  the  man  who  threw 
the  letter  from  Miss  Stone  into  the  window  of  Mr. 
Haskell's  residence. 

It  is  believed  that  the  actual  leader  of  the  bandits 
who  captured  Miss  Stone  was  Ivan  Zandanski,  for- 
merly keeper  of  the  Bulgaria  penitentiary,  who  resides 
at  Dubnitza,  a  little  town  near  the  scene  of  the  inci- 
dent. He  is  also  active  in  connection  with  the  Mace- 
donian movement,  is  associated  with  Vaciloff,  and  is  a 
notorious  desperado.  He  is  known  to  have  followed 
Miss  Stone  during  the  summer  on  several  of  her  jour- 
neys, and  usually  appeared  wherever  she  was.  This 
was  noticed  and  commented  upon,  without  suspicion  at 
the  time,  but  is  remembered  as  of  significance  since 
the  outrage.      Shortly  before  the  kidnaping  Zandan- 


226    The  TURK  a^id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

ski  started  ostensibly  upon  an  expedition  to  visit  and 
organize  the  Bulgarian  sympathizers  on  the  Turkish 
side  of  the  boundary  in  the  Balkan  Mountains,  and 
took  with  him  twenty  or  more  guns  from  the  arsenal  of 
the  Macedonian  Committee  at  Samakov.  He  returned 
on  the  nth  of  October,  surrendered  the  guns  to  their 
proper  custodian,  and  reported  that  he  had  met  with 
great  success.  It  is  current  gossip  among  the  peasants 
in  that  part  of  the  country  that  he  was  the  leader  of 
the  band,  and  he  was  actually  identified  by  several  of 
Miss  Stone's  companions.  He  was  arrested  and 
released  for  want  of  evidence,  without  consulting  the 
missionaries  or  the  United  States  consul-general. 

George  Toderoff,  the  mule  driver  who  was  in  charge 
of  the  animals  used  by  Miss  Stone's  party,  and  acted 
as  their  guide,  is  believed  to  be  implicated.  Upon  his 
return  from  the  mountains  he  told  several  conflicting 
stories  concerning  the  event,  which  caused  his  arrest, 
but  he  also  was  released  by  order  of  the  government  at 
Sofia  because  of  supposed  threats  from  Macedonian 
patriots.  It  is  established  by  abundant  evidence  that 
a  number  of  members  of  the  local  Macedonian  organi- 
zation around  Samakov  disappeared  the  last  of  August, 
shortly  before  the  capture,  gradually  returning  to  their 
homes  during  September.  They  claimed  to  have  been 
engaged,  like  Zandanski,  in  organizing  revolutionary 
bands  in  Macedonia,  but  the  natives  generally  believe 
that  they  were  members  of  the  party. 

The  presence  of  a  military  force  which  was  sent  to 
the  neighborhood,  ostensibly  to  capture  the  brigands 
and  rescue  Miss  Stone,  also  aided  to  defeat  that 
purpose,  because  it  prevented  people  who  might  have 
furnished  valuable  information  from  communicating 
with   the  missionaries  or  lending   them    aid.      Every 


THE    KIDNAPING    OF   MISS   STONE     227 

man  who  showed  signs  of  knowledge  was  arrested, 
imprisoned  for  a  few  days,  and  then  released  without 
any  opportunity  having  been  offered  to  the  friends  of 
Miss  Stone  to  communicate  with  him.  These  proceed- 
ings terrorized  the  neighborhood,  and  balked  every 
effort  made  by  the  missionaries.  Another  reason  for 
the  delay  to  open  communication  was  the  refusal  of 
the  missionaries  to  offer  money  as  ransom  or  for  infor- 
mation. The  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  country 
are  very  poor,  they  are  naturally  avaricious,  and  some 
of  them  might  have  been  persuaded  by  the  judicious 
use  of  money  to  defy  the  authorities  and  furnish  infor- 
mation and  assistance.  The  missionaries,  however, 
were  exceedingly  scrupulous  in  refusing  to  appeal  to 
mercenary  motives.  At  the  beginning  they  declared 
that  no  ransom  would  be  paid,  and  all  offers  to  them 
and  to  Consul-general  Dickinson  involving  payments 
of  money  were  promptly  rejected.  The  wisdom  of 
this  policy  was  seriously  questioned  by  those  who  know 
the  Bulgarian  character  and  the  customs  of  the  coun- 
try, and  it  afterwards  proved  to  be  a  mistake  and  was 
abandoned.  Natives  and  foreigners  in  the  neighboring 
country  are  in  the  habit  of  paying  blackmail  and 
ransom.  Custom  has  overcome  their  scruples  on  this 
point,  and  in  several  of  the  Turkish  provinces  brigand- 
age is  regarded  as  a  legitimate  occupation.  It  is,  of 
course,  impossible  to  say  what  might  have  happened  if 
the  customs  of  the  country  had  been  followed  at  the 
start  in  this  respect,  but  the  missionaries  took  the 
same  high  ground  as  the  merchants  of  New  York  in 
1775,  when  they  declared  that  they  would  pay  "mil- 
lions for  defense,  but  not  one  cent  for  tribute." 

There   have   been    a    large    number    of    kidnaping 
cases  in   the  Turkish   provinces   during  the  last   few 


22 


8    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 


years.  People  in  this  country  have  heard  very  little 
about  them  because  the  means  of  communication  are 
limited  and  we  seldom  have  newspaper  letters  or  dis- 
patches from  that  part  of  the  world.  Miss  Stone's 
case  was  exceptional  in  this  respect,  because  of  the 
missionary  colonies  that  communicated  with  their 
friends  at  home  and  the  interest  taken  in  the  matter 
by  the  American  public.  The  following  is  a  partial 
list  of  the  persons  kidnaped  and  the  amount  of  ran- 
som paid  for  their  release,  since  1880.  There  have 
been  other  cases,  but  I  have  not  been  able  to  obtain 
the  facts: 

880,  Colonel  Singe,  ransomed  for  $50,000. 

8S1,  Henry  Suter,  ransomed  for  §60,000. 

8S4,  Richard  Dussi,  $6,000  paid. 

885,  Mrs.  Giovenov,  §35,000  demanded,  §2,000  paid. 

885,  Fritz  Charmand,  §8,000  demanded,  §1,500  paid. 

S87,  R.  C.  H.  Wilkins,  §30,000  demanded,  §8,000  paid. 

890,  Gray  Hill,  §100,000  demanded,  amount  paid  unknown. 

890,  Mr.  Landler,  §15,000  paid. 

891,  M.  Rayneud,  §5,000  paid. 
891,  M.  Michele,  §2,000  paid. 
894,  M.  Provost,  §3,000  paid. 

896,  Captain  Marriott,  §15,000  demanded,  §120  paid. 
896,  M.  Waligrski,  §4,000  paid. 
896,  Mme.  Branzian,  §50,000  demanded,  §10,000  paid. 

898,  James  Whithall,  §500  paid. 

899,  M.  Chevalier,  §15,000  paid. 

900,  Gerasim  Kirias,  §2,000  paid. 

901,  M.  Alphonse,  §5,000  demanded,  §1,000  paid. 
901,  Miss  Stone,  §125,000  demanded,  §65,000  paid. 

The  missionaries  almost  unanimously  opposed  the 
payment  of  ransom.  They  abhor  blackmail  as  a  mat- 
ter of  principle,  and  argued  that  submission  in  the 
Stone  case  would  establish  a  precedent  that  would  be 
disastrous  to  the  cause  of  missions  not  only  in  Turkey 


THE   KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE     229 

but  in  all  semi-civilized  countries.  They  feared  that  it 
would  result  in  a  new  industry;  that  all  the  idle  des- 
peradoes would  engage  in  the  business  of  kidnaping 
missionaries,  and  one  good  man  went  so  far  as  to 
declare  that  "God  would  prefer  Miss  Stone  to  perish 
of  hunger  in  the  mountains  than  endanger  the  lives  of 
his  servants  elsewhere." 

The  latest  foreigner  kidnaped  before  Miss  Stone 
was  Gerasim  Kirias,  an  Albanian  Protestant  preacher, 
a  naturalized  subject  of  Great  Britain  and  agent  for  the 
British  Bible  Society.  He  was  captured  under  circum- 
stances similar  to  those  of  Miss  Stone  and  carried  into 
the  mountains,  where  he  was  kept  for  three  months, 
while  negotiations  were  conducted  by  the  British 
consul-general.  He  was  finally  released  upon  the 
payment  of  500  Turkish  pounds,  which  is  equivalent  to 
about  ^2,000.  The  exposure  and  privation  cost  him 
his  life.  He  became  ill  of  rheumatism  while  in  the 
hands  of  the  bandits  and  never  recovered. 

Mr.  Landler,  engineer-in-chief  of  the  railroad  which 
runs  through  Bulgaria  to  Constantinople,  was  seized 
by  brigands  and  carried  into  the  mountains  several 
years  ago.  The  Austrian  government,  backed  by  Italy 
and  Germany,  attempted  to  force  Prince  Ferdinand  of 
Bulgaria  to  secure  his  release,  but  as  with  Miss  Stone 
the  government  made  no  attempt  to  capture  the  brig- 
ands or  rescue  the  prisoner,  although  it  was  not  shown 
that  the  Macedonian  Committee  or  any  other  political 
organization  was  involved  in  the  outrage.  Austria 
finally  paid  1^15,000  ransom,  Mr.  Landler  was  released, 
and  the  Bulgarian  government  was  compelled  to  refund 
the  money  and  pay  a  handsome  indemnity.  Other 
men  of  prominence  and  wealth  have  been  kidnaped 
and    the   government   has    refused    to    intervene.      I 


230    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

cannot  ascertain  that  any  brigand  has  been  punished 
in  Bulgaria  since  the  retirement  of  Stambouloff,  late 
prime  minister. 

Mr.  Dickinson,  agent  of  the  United  States,  assuming 
that  the  government  of  Bulgaria  was  responsible  for 
the  safety  of  foreigners  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  for 
the  good  behavior  of  its  subjects,  undertook  to  compel 
its  authorities  to  compel  the  Macedonian  Committee  to 
compel  the  Samakov  local  committee  to  compel  the 
conspirators  to  call  in  the  brigands  and  release  Miss 
Stone,  but  his  efforts  were  useless  because  the  Mace- 
donian Committee  was  determined  to  avoid  the  odium 
of  the  kidnaping,  and  is  much  more  powerful  than  the 
government.  It  was  not  believed  then,  or  now,  by  those 
who  are  well  informed,  that  the  present  managers  of 
the  Macedonian  movement  had  any  part  in  or  knowl- 
edge of  the  conspiracy,  but  there  was  abundant  circum- 
stantial evidence  that  the  plot  was  arranged  and  carried 
out  by  the  former  leaders,  "the  old  committee,"  as  it  is 
called,  of  which  a  desperate  adventurer  named  Boris 
Sarafoff  was  the  chairman  and  leader.  Sarafoff  was 
removed  as  head  of  the  central  committee  because  he 
was  indicted  for  murder  and  gambled  away  the  funds 
in  the  treasury.  He  was  also  engaged  in  several 
blackmailing  conspiracies  which  brought  discredit 
upon  the  cause.  Nevertheless  he  is  one  of  the  most 
popular  heroes  in  Bulgaria  and  has  more  influence  with 
the  people  than  any  official  of  the  government  or  any 
respectable  member  of  the  community. 

Sarafoff  was  suspected  of  complicity  with  the  con- 
spiracy as  soon  as  Miss  Stone's  abduction  was 
reported.  The  British  minister,  acting  in  behalf  of 
the  United  States,  because  we  have  no  official  repre- 
sentative at  Sofia,  notified  the  Bulgarian  minister  of 


THE   KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE     231 

foreign  relations  of  his  suspicions  that  Sarafoff  was 
implicated  and  demanded  officially  that  he  either  be 
arrested  and  locked  up  or  placed  under  surveillance, 
so  that  he  could  not  leave  the  country  until  an  investi- 
gation could  be  made.  The  government  did  not  touch 
him,  and  probably  did  not  dare  to  do  so.  Sarafoff  left 
Sofia  within  a  few  days  and  went  to  Budapest.  He 
was  afterwards  reported  to  be  in  Paris.  The  police 
knew  his  whereabouts,  but  were  more  afraid  of  him 
than  he  was  of  them. 

Mr.  Dickinson  is  a  gentleman  of  ability  and  integ- 
rity, and  has  the  entire  confidence  of  the  American 
colony  in  Constantinople,  but  from  the  beginning  of 
the  negotiations  in  behalf  of  Miss  Stone  he  adopted  a 
policy  which  was  calculated  to  prevent  instead  of 
secure  her  release.  He  seems  to  have  imagined  that 
diplomacy  could  solve  the  problem,  and  instead  of 
dealing  with  the  brigands  he  endeavored  to  compel 
the  Bulgarian  government  to  interfere,  when  he  should 
have  known  that  it  was  absolutely  powerless  to  do  so. 
After  two  months  had  passed,  and  having  fully  demon- 
strated his  inability  to  deal  with  the  case,  Mr.  Dickin- 
son was  recalled  from  Bulgaria  and  Mr.  Leishman,  the 
United  States  minister  at  Constantinople,  who  had 
been  on  leave,  was  ordered  back  to  his  post  of  duty. 
He  arrived  at  Constantinople  about  the  ist  of  January, 
and,  after  informing  himself  as  to  the  situation,  pro- 
ceeded to  undertake  Miss  Stone's  release  by  the  appli- 
cation of  business  methods  and  common  sense.  He 
abandoned  the  diplomatic  controversy,  and,  recogniz- 
ing that  the  officials  of  the  Bulgarian  government  were 
impotent,  endeavored  to  open  communication  directly 
with  the  brigands.  He  appointed  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  Mr.  Gargiulo,  chief  dragoman  and  interpreter 


232    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

of  the  United  States  legation  at  Constantinople;  Rev. 
John  Henry  House,  D.D.,  formerly  of  Painesville, 
Ohio,  and  for  twenty-five  years  in  charge  of  the  mission 
work  of  the  American  Board  in  Macedonia,  with  head- 
quarters at  Salonika;  and  W.  W.  Peet,  treasurer  of  the 
Bible  Society  and  Missionary  Board  at  Constantinople. 
These  gentlemen  managed  the  business  with  great 
skill  and  tact. 

Dr.  Peet  was  the  custodian  of  the  fund  contributed 
by  citizens  of  the  United  States  for  the  ransom,  and  it 
amounted  to  $65,000.  Rev.  Dr.  House  commands  the 
confidence  of  the  people  of  Macedonia  to  a  degree 
beyond  that  of  any  other  American,  and  for  that 
reason  Mr.  Leishman  selected  him  to  negotiate  with 
the  brigands.  Mr.  Gargiulo  is  more  familiar  with  the 
methods  and  habits  of  the  natives  of  Turkey  than  any 
other  man  whose  services  could  be  obtained.  He  is 
also  upon  familiar  terms  with  the  officials  and  knows 
how  to  deal  with  both  classes. 

Mr.  Leishman  invited  these  three  gentlemen  to  take 
charge  of  the  case,  and  they  went  directly  to  the 
scene  of  Miss  Stone's  capture. 

On  the  i8th  of  January  Dr.  House  succeeded  in 
opening  communication  with  Miss  Stone  from  a  town 
called  Razlog.  She  wrote  that  she  was  well  and 
kindly  treated,  and  that  the  alarming  reports  about 
Mrs.  Tsilka  and  herself  were  unfounded.  But  the 
brigands  would  not  release  her  except  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  $65,000,  which  they  were  aware  had  been  con- 
tributed for  the  ransom,  and  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
missionaries  at  Constantinople.  They  knew  to  a  dollar 
the  extent  of  the  funds  raised,  and  would  not  listen  to 
any  proposition  except  the  payment  of  the  full 
amount.     They  had  been  in  constant  communication 


THE    KIDNAPING   OF    MISS   STONE     233 

with  friends  at  Sofia  and  elsewhere,  who  kept  them 
advised  of  all  the  movements  of  our  government  and 
of  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  were  familiar  with  the  news- 
paper publications  concerning  the  case  in  the  United 
States.  They  declined  to  surrender  Miss  Stone  in 
advance  of  payment  and  insisted  that  the  money 
should  be  paid  first. 

Mr.  Leishman  investigated  the  precedents  and  found 
that  this  had  always  been  customary  and  that  in  every 
case  on  record  the  brigands  had  acted  honorably  and 
carried  out  their  part  of  the  agreement.  In  the  case 
of  Colonel  Singe,  an  Englishman  who  was  kidnaped 
some  years  ago,  his  captors  not  only  demanded  $60,000 
ransom  money  in  advance,  but  required  that  his  wife 
and  daughter  should  be  delivered  as  hostages  and 
detained  until  they  had  been  given  twenty-four  hours 
to  escape.  The  money  and  the  women  were  delivered 
to  a  representative  of  the  bandits  at  a  place  agreed 
upon.  The  hostages  remained  in  absolute  seclusion 
until  the  following  day,  when,  at  the  hour  appointed, 
they  left  the  cabin  in  which  they  had  been  placed  and 
returned  to  their  home.  If  they  had  attempted  to 
leave  before  or  to  communicate  with  anybody  during 
that  time  they  undoubtely  would  have  been  shot,  but 
they  submitted  to  the  exactions  of  the  bandits,  and  on 
the  following  day  Colonel  Singe  was  released. 

Mme.  Branzian,  a  French  lady  who  was  kidnaped 
in  1896,  was  released  under  similar  conditions.  Her 
captors  demanded  £10,000  in  advance  and  three  days' 
time  in  which  to  escape  with  the  m.oney.  If  they  were 
molested  in  the  meantime  they  gave  notice  that  she 
would  be  killed.  Ten  thousand  dollars  was  paid  as 
agreed  and  the  conditions  were  complied  with,  but  at 
the  end  of  the  three  days  soldiers  started  in  pursuit, 


234    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

four  of  the  brigands  were  captured  and  ^8,000  of  the 
money  recovered. 

In  every  other  case  that  Mr.  Leishman  could  hear  of 
the  conditions  were  the  same,  and,  upon  the  advice  of 
Dr.  House,  he  decided  to  accept  the  terms  and  author- 
ized the  payment  of  the  ransom.  There  was  a  little 
difficulty  at  first  as  to  the  place  and  the  manner  in  which 
the  money  was  to  be  delivered,  but  in  this,  as  in  every 
other  particular,  the  committee  was  compelled  to 
submit  to  the  demands  of  the  brigands.  The  result 
justified  their  confidence,  and  Miss  Stone  and  her  com- 
panion were  surrendered  according  to  the  stipulation. 
On  October  25  Dr.  Haskell  and  Dr.  Baird,  of  the 
Congregational  mission  at  Samakov,  had  an  interview 
with  one  of  the  so-called  brigands,  and  he  knew  every- 
thing that  Consul-general  Dickinson  had  done  up  to 
that  date,  as  well  as  the  exact  amount  of  the  ransom 
fund  that  had  been  contributed  in  the  United  States, 
Rev.  Dr.  House  met  three  of  them  by  appointment 
January  22.  Two  days  later  Messrs.  House,  Peet  and 
Gargiulo  met  several  others,  discussed  the  matter  of 
ransom  as  business  men  usually  discuss  commercial 
transactions,  and  arranged  for  the  payment  of  the 
money  on  the  following  day,  January  25.  The 
brigands  demanded  payment  in  gold  coin,  and  swore 
the  Americans  to  perpetual  secrecy  concerning  their 
individuality,  the  place  where  the  ransom  was  paid  and 
other  circumstances  connected  with  the  case.  They 
insisted  that  the  place  of  payment  should  remain  a 
secret  for  fear  the  people  in  the  neighborhood  might 
be  suspected  of  complicity  and  be  punished  by  the 
Turks.  The  unexpected  appearance  of  a  company  of 
Turkish  soldiers,  who  were  always  on  the  alert  to 
watch  the  movements  of  the  rescue  committee,  pre- 


THE   KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE 


235 


vented  the  payment  of  the  ransom  until  the  13th  of 
February.  Three  men  were  waiting  around  the  place 
of  rendezvous  all  this  time  for  a  chance  to  receive  the 
money  safely;  and,  in  order  to  throw  the  Turkish 
soldiers  off  the  scent,  the  missionaries  removed  the 
gold  from  the  packages  in  which  it  had  been  brought 
from  Constantinople,  filled  the  packages  with  stones 
and  sent  them  back  under  guard  to  the  railway  sta- 
tion. 

This  ruse  proved  successful.  The  Turkish  officials 
and  detectives  who  were  watching  the  missionaries 
supposed  that  they  had  failed  to  connect  with  the 
brigands  and  had  shipped  the  money  to  Constanti- 
nople. Their  vigilance  was,  therefore,  relaxed,  and  on 
February  13  the  rescue  committee  paid  over  ^65,000 
in  gold  coin  to  four  brigands,  who  insisted  upon  count- 
ing it  piece  by  piece,  to  be  sure  that  they  received 
the  full  amount  demanded.  Twelve  other  brigands 
were  in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  within  call  and 
on  guard,  and  several  of  them  are  known  to  the  mis- 
sionaries. 

Two  days  later,  in  a  cabin  in  the  mountains,  Miss 
Stone  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  House,  brought  in 
by  the  brigands,  containing  the  welcome  news  that 
the  ransom  had  been  paid,  and  was  informed  by  her 
captors  that  she  would  be  released  as  soon  as  their 
safety  would  permit.  After  several  days  of  impatient 
waiting  the  bandits  started  upon  a  journey  with  their 
captives.  They  traveled  through  the  mountains  two 
nights  and  part  of  three  days,  and  about  dusk  on  the 
evening  of  the  third  day,  February  23,  Miss  Stone, 
Mrs.  Tsilka  and  her  baby  were  left  in  the  woods  and 
were  told  that  they  were  free  to  go  their  way,  and 
would  find  a  village  within  five  minutes'  walk.     The 


236    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

women  thanked  their  captors  for  their  kindness, 
expressed  the  natural  degree  of  relief  at  the  end  of 
their  captivity  and  soon  found  themselves  in  the 
village  of  Gradshortsky,  where  the  natives  received 
them  hospitably  and  notified  the  governor  of  the  town 
of  Stronmitza,  only  a  few  miles  away. 

On  the  following  morning  Miss  Stone  and  Mrs. 
Tsilka  were  taken  to  Stronmitza,  where  the  governor 
received  them  with  considerable  ceremony  and  notified 
the  missionaries.  Dr.  House,  Mr,  Peet  and  Mr. 
Gargiulo,  who  had  been  patiently  waiting  for  this 
news,  soon  joined  the  ladies  and  conducted  them  to 
Salonika,  where  Dr.  House  lives.  From  there,  after 
a  few  days  of  rest,  they  went  to  Constantinople. 

There  is  a  decided  difference  of  opinion  among  the 
European  colony  and  the  missionaries  as  to  the  moral 
effect  of  the  transaction,  but  the  proceedings  of  the 
American  minister  and  his  committee  are  generally 
approved.  It  is  also  the  almost  unanimous  sentiment 
that  the  same  methods  should  have  been  adopted  at 
once  after  Miss  Stone's  capture.  A  few  members  of 
the  missionary  colony  still  insist  that  it  would  have 
been  better  to  sacrifice  Miss  Stone's  life  than  to  "com- 
promise with  wrong,"  as  they  term  it.  They  predict 
that  the  lives  and  liberty  of  American  missionaries  will 
be  imperiled  from  this  time  on  and  that  it  will  be 
unsafe  for  any  foreigner  to  travel  without  an  armed 
escort.  The  people  of  the  United  States,  having  shown 
their  willingness  to  pay  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
ransom  one  missionary,  will  be  called  upon  frequently 
hereafter  to  pay  blackmail  to  protect  others,  and  they 
argue  that  the  establishment  of  such  a  precedent  is 
not  only  fatal  as  a  matter  of  policy  but  a  shameful 
surrender  of  the  dignity  of  a  powerful  Christian  nation. 


THE    KIDNAPING   OF    MISS   STONE     237 

No  demand  has  been  made  upon  Turkey  for  indem- 
nity or  other  reparation  because  it  is  clear  that  the 
crime  was  committed  by  Bulgarians,  and  not  by  Turks, 
although  upon  Turkish  soil,  and  in  Turkish  disguises; 
and  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  conspirators  desired  and 
intended  to  involve  Turkey  in  complications  with  the 
United  States.  No  demand  has  been  made  upon  Bul- 
garia since  the  release  of  Miss  Stone  because  she 
declines  to  make  a  complaint  or  furnish  any  clues  to 
the  identity  of  her  captors  or  any  evidence  upon 
which  a  claim  can  be  based.  She  intends  to  return 
to  her  mission  field  in  Macedonia  and  Bulgaria,  and 
therefore  does  not  wish  to  impair  her  popularity  or 
usefulness  among  the  people  of  those  countries.  She 
is  intensely  sympathetic  with  the  Macedonian  cause, 
notwithstanding  her  sufferings  at  the  hands  of  its  advo- 
cates, and  she  is  evidently  under  pledges  to  her 
captors  not  to  do  or  say  anything  that  might  interfere 
with  their  peace  of  mind  or  pursuit  of  happiness,  for 
she  has  declined,  or  at  least  neglected,  to  furnish  the 
department  of  state  any  information  concerning  them. 
She  is  also  so  confident  that  her  deliverance  is  due  to 
the  intercession  of  Providence,  in  answer  to  her 
prayers,  that  she  has  entirely  overlooked  all  the  human 
agencies  that  were  engaged  in  her  behalf. 

Mrs.  Tsilka  made  a  brief  statement  at  the  request  of 
Mr.  Leishman,  the  United  States  minister  at  Constan- 
tinople, but  it  furnishes  little  information,  and  it  is  of 
no  value  whatever  for  official  purposes.  The  United 
States  government  intended  to  make  some  sort  of  a 
demonstration  in  order  to  assert  its  dignity  and  show 
its  disapproval  of  the  liberties  the  brigands  of  Bul- 
garia have  taken  with  American  citizens,  but  it  cannot 
do  very  much  unless  the  parties  of  the  first  part  make 


238    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

complaint  or  furnish  some  ground  for  action,  which 
they  both  seem  disinclined  to  do. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  facts  and  the 
situation  in  Macedonia,  Miss  Stone's  narrative  in 
McClure's  Magazine  is  more  remarkable  for  what  she 
omits  than  for  what  she  tells.  It  is  very  clear  that  she 
is  determined  to  furnish  no  clew  to  her  captors,  for 
with  great  care  and  skill  she  avoids  giving  any  infor- 
mation that  may  reveal  their  identity  or  disclose  the 
places  in  which  she  and  Mrs.  Tsilka  were  detained 
during  their  captivity. 

Nevertheless,  she  makes  one  or  two  slips,  evidently 
unconscious  of  their  significance.  For  example,  she 
expresses  her  relief  at  finding  that  her  captors  were 
not  "black  shirts"  or  regular  brigands.  She  says  that 
their  arms  and  equipments  were  all  new;  that  they 
were  in  communication  with  friends  in  Sofia  and 
received  regular  and  prompt  information  from  that 
city.  She  speaks  well  of  them,  appreciates  their  kind- 
ness and  courtesy,  and  in  her  letters  to  Dr.  House  and 
others  certifies  that  they  are  "entirely  trustworthy." 
Dr.  House,  Dr.  Peet  and  Mr.  Gargiulo,  who  had 
several  interviews  with  her  captors,  testify  that  they 
were  "neither  shepherds  nor  husbandmen,  but  men  of 
education  and  some  polish,"  especially  the  chief,  who 
knew  some  English. 

Mr.  Gargiulo  calls  attention  to  a  singular  circum- 
stance. He  says  that  it  is  the  custom  for  brigands  to 
give  their  captives  a  liberal  contribution  from  the 
ransom  paid  for  their  release.  He  mentions  that  when 
Colonel  Singe,  an  Englishman,  was  ransomed  in  1880, 
each  brigand  in  the  band  gave  him  a  handful  of  gold, 
from  £20  to  £25  sterling,  before  leaving  him.  In  other 
cases    of    abduction    by    regular    brigands    the    same 


A   M\(  I.lxiMW   I<i:.\|)\    1-()K  KENOLL'TION 


THE   KIDNAPING   OF   MISS   STONE     239 

practice  has  been  followed,  but  in  Miss  Stone's  case 
her  captors  were  not  so  generous.  They  gave  her  no 
money  whatever,  which,  Mr.  Gargiulo  argues,  indi- 
cates that  they  are  unfamiliar  with  the  etiquette  of 
brigandage;  that  it  was  new  business  for  them,  and 
therefore  they  are  not  regular  brigands.  This  confirms 
the  belief  that  they  are  members  of  the  Macedonian 
Committee. 

Assuming  that  the  conspiracy  to  kidnap  Miss  Stone 
was  hatched  and  carried  out  by  the  Macedonian  Com- 
mittee, the  motives  are  easily  understood: 

(i)  The  Macedonian  Committee,  having  an  empty 
treasury,  needed  money  for  arms  and  ammunition. 

(2)  They  desired  to  terrify  the  American  mission- 
aries into  cooperation  with  them  in  their  efforts  to 
secure  the  emancipation  of  Macedonia  from  Turkish 
rule.  While  the  sympathies  of  the  missionaries  have 
always  been  with  the  Macedonian  patriots,  they  have 
carefully  abstained  from  doing  anything  to  excite  the 
criticism  or  provoke  the  hostility  of  the  Turks. 

(3)  The  Macedonian  Committee  desired  to  attract 
the  attention  of  Europe  to  the  misgovernment  of  the 
Macedonian  province  by  Turkish  ofificials  and  to  the 
condition  of  anarchy  that  prevails  there,  hoping  to 
secure  the  intervention  of  the  great  Powers  and 
compel  the  Sultan  to  carry  into  effect  the  pledges  he 
made  to  the  international  conference  at  Berlin,  when 
Macedonia  was  restored  to  his  authority  in  1878.  The 
members  of  the  Macedonian  Committee  have  pro- 
claimed boldly,  both  before  Miss  Stone's  abduction 
and  since,  that  they  will  make  it  so  unsafe  for  foreign- 
ers in  Macedonia  that  the  Powers  will  be  compelled  to 
intervene  for  the  protection  of  their  own  subjects. 

(4)  The  committee  hoped  to  provoke  war,  or  at  least 


240    The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

serious  complications,  between  Turkey  and  the  United 
States  by  kidnaping  an  American  citizen  while  upon 
Turkish  soil,  and  thus  involve  the  government  of  the 
United  States  in  what  is  known  as  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion. Hitherto  we  have  always  held  aloof  from  that 
perplexing  problem. 

There  is  strong  ground  for  the  belief  that  there  was 
a  quarrel  between  the  old  and  new  Macedonian  Com- 
mittees, although  the  facts  are  not  known.  Miss 
Stone  was  captured  by  the  old  committee,  which,  as  I 
have  already  said,  was  composed  of  desperate  and  dis- 
reputable adventurers.  The  new  committee  is  com- 
posed of  respectable  and  honorable  men,  who  did  not 
approve  of  the  abduction  and  were  very  anxious  lest  it 
should  injure  the  cause  of  Macedonian  freedom  among 
the  Christian  people  of  Europe.  Miss  Stone,  in  her 
narrative  in  McClure's  Magazine,  tells  of  a  fight 
between  her  captors  and  another  band  of  brigands 
who,  she  thinks,  were  trying  to  recapture  Mrs.  Tsilka 
and  herself  for  the  sake  of  securing  the  ransom. 
Private  information  from  Sofia,  which  was  not  credited 
at  the  time,  referred  to  such  an  attempt  upon  the  part 
of  the  new  committee,  but  it  has  never  been  made 
clear  whether  they  intended  to  release  the  prisoners,  if 
captured,  or  whether  they  intended  to  demand  the 
ransom  for  themselves  instead  of  allowing  it  to  be  col- 
lected by  the  members  of  the  old  committee. 


PART    III 

Servia 


241 


PART   III 

SERVIA 

XII 

THE   POLITICAL   SITUATION   IN   SERVIA 

To  understand  the  situation  in  Servia  it  is  necessary 
to  know  a  little  of  the  history  of  that  interesting 
country,  which  is  always  furnishing  a  sensation  for 
Europe,  and  the  story  of  the  feud  between  two  peasant 
families,  which  has  been  the  cause  of  most  of  the 
trouble.  At  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  Servia 
was  a  Turkish  province  and  was  governed  by  a 
just  and  humane  pasha  named  Hadji  Mustapha.  He 
was  not  only  popular,  but  was  beloved  by  his  Christian 
subjects,  and  the  land  was  peaceful  and  prosperous. 
The  Janizaries,  however,  did  not  approve  of  his 
liberal  policy  or  his  efforts  to  protect  the  inhabitants 
against  their  extortions  and  cruelties,  so  they  shut  him 
up  in  the  citadel  and  put  him  to  death.  They 
explained  to  the  Sultan  that  he  had  been  untrue  to  the 
Turks  and  was  a  friend  of  the  Christians.  The  Jani- 
zaries had  their  own  way  for  four  or  five  years,  and, 
fearing  an  uprising  of  the  people,  decided  to  murder 
every  man  who  could  possibly  be  looked  upon  as  a 
leader.  Thousands  were  massacred;  every  town  and 
village  in  Servia  flowed  with  blood.  Among  those 
who  escaped  to  the  mountains  was  a  swineherd  named 
George  Petrovitch  (George,  the  son  of  Peter),  better 
known   to    history  by   his    nickname,    Kara    (Black) 

243 


244    '^f^e  TURK  a^id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

George,  because  of  his  dark  complexion  and  raven 
hair.  He  is  the  greatest  hero  of  Servian  history,  and 
to  him  his  country  owes  its  independence  from  the 
Turks. 

He  was  a  very  able  man  and  generally  respected,  but 
was  absolutely  illiterate,  being  unable  to  read  or 
write,  and  could  not  even  sign  his  name.  When  he 
became  king  he  used  a  peculiar  cipher  or  rubric  to 
show  his  approval  of  state  papers.  But  he  had  natural 
intelligence  and  sagacity.  His  integrity  was  never 
questioned  and  his  sense  of  justice  was  Spartan.  He 
allowed  his  own  brother  to  suffer  the  death  penalty  as 
an  example  to  others  for  defying  the  authority  of  the 
government.  While  King  of  Servia  he  wore  the  ordi- 
nary peasant's  garb,  because  he  said  it  was  more 
appropriate  to  his  ignorance  and  simple  character  than 
a  crown  and  robe  of  state,  and  he  lived  with  the  same 
frugality  as  when  he  was  tending  his  pigs  in  the 
mountains,  often  cooking  his  own  meals  in  the  palace 
kitchen. 

Karageorge  drove  out  the  Turks  and  organized  a 
liberal  monarchy  in  Servia.  Keenly  appreciating  his 
own  deficiencies,  the  first  thing  he  did  was  to  establish 
a  free  public  school  system  in  every  province,  with  a 
university  at  Belgrade.  He  introduced  courts  of 
justice,  reduced  taxation,  punished  corruption,  sup- 
pressed vice  and  organized  the  different  branches  of 
the  government  with  the  skill  of  an  experienced 
statesman;  but  the  people  were  not  able  to  advance  at 
his  rapid  pace  and  he  suffered  the  fate  of  many  men 
who  have  been  ahead  of  their  generation.  His 
enemies  encompassed  him  about,  and  his  critics  inter- 
fered with  his  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the 
country.     In  a  fit  of  anger  and   indignation    because 


POLITICAL   SITUATION    IN   SERVIA    245 

the  public  would  not  sustain  his  reforms,  he  abdicated 
the  crown  after  a  reign  of  nine  years.  He  was  the 
founder  of  the  Karageorgovitch  family,  which  is  one 
of  the  parties  to  a  perpetual  feud  for  the  control  of 
Servia. 

His  rival,  the  founder  of  the  other  faction,  was  also 
a  peasant,  the  son  of  a  house-servant,  a  man  who  did 
menial  work  about  the  castle  of  an  aristocratic  family 
named  Obren.  His  father  was  called  Tescho,  but,  as  is 
common  among  the  Balkan  peasants,  he  had  no  family 
name,  and  when  he  became  conspicuous  enough  to  need 
one  he  adopted  that  of  his  master,  and  the  founder 
of  the  present  reigning  house  of  Servia  became  known 
as  Milos  Obren,  When  Karageorge  abdicated,  Milos 
was  the  most  influential  man  left  in  the  city  of  Bel- 
grade, and  the  Turkish  pasha  who  invaded  the  country 
and  captured  the  city  appointed  him  governor  of  the 
province.  This  honor  excited  his  ambition  and 
jealousy,  and,  fearing  a  popular  movement  to  recall 
Karageorge  to  the  throne,  he  betrayed  him  to  the 
Turkish  pasha,  and,  in  obedience  to  the  latter's 
orders,  willingly  hired  a  professional  assassin  named 
Vuica  to  murder  his  unsuspecting  rival  while  asleep 
in  the  shepherd's  hut  he  occupied  in  the  mountains. 
Thus  began  the  feud  between  the  descendants  of  the 
two  men,  which  continues  to  the  present  day,  and  the 
history  of  Servia  is  little  more  than  a  recital  of  the 
rivalries  between  the  Obrenovitch  and  the  Karageorg- 
ovitch families.  Milos  finally  succeeded  in  reaching 
the  throne,  and,  being  a  man  of  very  different  disposi- 
tion from  Karageorge,  ruled  as  an  autocrat  until  he 
was  compelled  to  abdicate  by  an  outraged  people,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Milan  III.,  who  died 
a  month  later,  when  his  brother  Michael  was  seated. 


246    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Michael  made  a  good  king.  He  was  liberal,  just, 
progressive,  and  introduced  many  modern  improve- 
ments into  Servia,  besides  carrying  on  the  reforms 
begun  by  Karageorge.  He  built  a  fine  system  of  roads 
and  highways,  erected  several  good  public  buildings, 
laid  out  paries,  built  an  opera-house  and  an  art  gallery, 
all  of  which  were  excellent  things  in  their  way,  but 
cost  money.  The  peasants,  who  have  always  ruled 
Servia,  objected  to  what  they  called  "German  ideas" 
and  drove  Michael  from  power,  electing  as  king  in  his 
place  Alexander  Karageorgovitch,  a  son  of  the 
national  hero.  The  latter  had  held  an  humble  posi- 
tion in  the  Servian  army,  was  modest,  quiet  and 
reserved.  In  an  unostentatious  way  he  continued  the 
policy  of  public  improvements  begun  by  Michael, 
encouraging  the  arts  and  industries.  During  his  reign 
Servia  enjoyed  peace  for  several  years  and  made  rapid 
progress,  but  the  dissatisfied  element  soon  began 
agitations  again,  and,  encouraged  by  the  partisans  of 
the  Obrenovitch  family,  obtained  control  of  the  par- 
liament, which  demanded  Alexander's  abdication,  and 
called  back  old  Milos,  who  had  been  in  exile  in 
Austria.  He  reigned  for  two  years,  until  he  died,  and 
it  was  good  for  the  country  that  his  life  was  not  pro- 
longed, for  he  labored  under  the  delusion  that  his 
recall  was  a  vindication  of  his  previous  autocratic 
policy,  and  his  rule  was  worse  than  before. 

Upon  the  death  of  Milos,  Michael  again  came  into 
power.  During  his  exile  he  had  traveled  much,  had 
studied  the  art  of  government  in  several  of  the  Euro- 
pean capitals,  had  learned  foreign  languages  and 
foreign  affairs,  and  this  education  and  observation, 
with  his  natural  abilities,  made  him  a  safe  and  prudent 
sovereign.     He  was  altogether  the  best  ruler  Servia 


POLITICAL    SITUATION    IN   SERVIA    247 

has  ever  had;  but  there  were  continual  conspiracies 
against  him  by  partisans  of  the  Karageorge  family, 
and,  being  unable  to  control  the  parliament,  they 
removed  Michael  by  assassination.  He  was  murdered 
in  the  garden  of  his  country  palace.  It  was  the  inten- 
tion of  the  conspirators  to  proclaim  Peter  Karageorgo- 
vitch  as  king  simultaneously  with  the  announcement 
of  Michael's  death,  but  their  carriage  broke  down  on 
their  way  back  to  Belgrade  and  the  news  of  their 
crime  preceded  them.  The  minister  of  war  took 
prompt  action,  arrested  the  assassins  and  locked  them 
up  in  the  dungeons  of  the  citadel.  The  plot  proved 
to  be  widespread.  Several  members  of  the  Karageorge 
family  were  convicted  of  complicity  and  put  to  death, 
but  there  was  no  direct  evidence  against  Peter,  who 
then,  as  now,  was  living  quietly  at  Lucerne,  Switzer- 
land, engaged  in  scientific  pursuits.  His  late  wife, 
Zorka,  was  a  daughter  of  the  reigning  Prince  of  Mon- 
tenegro, and  he  has  two  sons  in  the  Russian  army. 
He  is  now  an  old  man,  but,  like  Don  Carlos  of  Spain 
and  the  Duke  of  Orleans  of  France,  is  a  recognized 
"pretender,"  and  his  name  is  always  used  by  the 
"outs"  as  a  shibboleth  when  they  are  trying  to  raise  a 
revolution. 

The  national  assembly  placed  Milan  IV.  on  the 
throne,  and  in  1869  he  was  crowned.  While  getting 
his  education  in  Paris  he  had  acquired  habits  of  luxury, 
gambling  and  dissipation,  which  unfitted  him  for  the 
responsibility  of  ruling  a  primitive  and  a  restless 
country  like  Servia.  His  love  of  pleasure,  his  low 
tastes,  reckless  extravagance  and  selfish  disposition 
were  his  ruin.  He  squandered  the  nation's  money  and 
lost  his  private  fortune  at  cards.  His  wife,  Natalie 
Keskho,  daughter  of  a  colonel  in  the  Russian  army, 


24S    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

was  compelled  to  leave  him  and  was  finally  granted  a 
divorce.  Their  domestic  troubles  and  the  scandals  of 
the  Servian  court  for  a  dozen  years  during  the  reign  of 
Milan  furnished  gossip  for  all  Europe.  Finally, 
enervated  by  dissipation  and  despised  by  his  subjects 
and  all  decent  people,  he  abdicated  in  1889  in  favor  of 
his  son  Alexander,  a  lad  of  thirteen,  who  is  now  king 
of  Servia 

This  precocious  youth,  when  not  more  than  fifteen 
years  old,  fell  under  the  fascinations  of  Mme.  Draga 
Maschin,  who  had  been  a  lady-in-waiting  to  his 
mother.  She  is  an  ambitious  and  brilliant  woman, 
gifted  with  considerable  beauty,  and  the  daughter  of  a 
cattle-dealer  in  Belgrade  named  Lunjevitza.  When 
only  seventeen  years  of  age  she  married  Colonel 
Maschin,  an  engineer  in  the  Servian  army,  who 
obtained  a  divorce  from  her  because  of  her  scandalous 
relations  with  the  young  king,  which  began  when  he 
was  a  mere  boy,  and  since  that  time  she  has  resided  in 
the  palace  and  has  absolutely  controlled  him.  The 
Dowager  Queen  Natalie  again  and  again  attempted  to 
bring  the  lad  to  his  senses  and  break  off  the  relations, 
but  Mme.  Draga  had  more  influence  than  the  mother, 
and  actually  compelled  the  latter  to  leave  the  palace 
and  the  Kingdom  of  Servia.  Natalie  is  now  residing  at 
Biarritz,  very  much  respected  and  beloved  by  many 
people,  although  she  made  herself  very  unhappy  and 
excited  much  hostility  among  the  Servian  politicians 
by  her  sympathy  with  Russia,  and  her  desire  to  bring 
Servia  within  the  Russian  influence.  Whatever  may 
have  been  said  of  her  political  imprudence,  her  char- 
acter has  never  been  questioned. 

Draga  was  ambitious  to  share  the  throne  with  her 
youthful  lover,  although  she  was  nearly  twice  his  age, 


POLITICAL   SITUATION    IN   SERVIA    249 

but  her  high  aspirations  were  stubbornly  opposed  by 
the  ministers  of  state  and  the  leading  politicians  of 
Servia.  After  the  abdication  of  his  father,  Prince 
Alexander,  during  his  minority,  ruled  the  country 
through  three  regents,  all  venerable  and  patriotic 
men,  but  it  became  necessary  for  Draga  to  get  rid  of 
them  for  her  own  safety  and  the  success  of  her 
schemes.  She  found  the  young  king  a  willing  tool, 
and  one  night,  when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  old, 
he  invited  the  regents  to  the  palace,  and  while  they 
sat  at  dinner  they  were  arrested  upon  a  charge  of 
treason  and  thrown  into  prison,  while  he  proclaimed 
himself  king.  T\\\s  coJip  cT ctat  vjdiS  successful,  for  the 
army  admired  the  audacity  of  the  youngster  and  sus- 
tained him.  He  has  since  married  his  mistress,  and 
she  remains  as  influential  as  ever,  the  most  interesting 
and  conspicuous  figure  in  Servian  politics. 

King  Alexander  is  a  degenerate,  and  his  brief  career 
is  disgusting.  He  looks  as  if  he  had  escaped  from  an 
asylum  for  the  depraved,  but  is  by  no  means  feeble  of 
mind  or  body.  On  the  contrary,  he  has  a  vigorous 
constitution,  and  on  two  or  three  occasions  has  shown 
a  nerve  and  power  of  command  which  would  do  credit 
to  a  great  general.  Unfortunately  he  has  inherited 
some  of  the  depravity  of  his  father,  the  late  King 
Milan,  who  was  probably  the  worst  ruler  Europe  has 
seen  for  a  generation,  but  at  the  same  time  the  son 
possesses  a  physical  and  moral  courage  that  Milan 
never  displayed. 

Draga  Maschin,  the  daughter  of  the  Servian  cattle- 
dealer,  reached  the  throne  by  a  series  of  sacrifices  and 
intrigues  more  sensational  than  have  ever  occurred 
outside  of  fictional  literature;  and  yet  she  is  not  happy, 
because   for   their   sins   both   she    and    her    youthful 


250    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

husband  are  boycotted  by  all  the  courts  of  Europe. 
Queen  Victoria  was  so  disgusted  at  the  vulgar  comedy 
enacted  at  Belgrade  that  she  wanted  to  emphasize  her 
disapproval  by  withdrawing  the  British  minister. 
There  have  been  a  good  many  scandals  in  royal 
families,  and  some  exist  at  the  present  time,  which 
would  make  an  interesting  chapter,  but  there  has  been 
nothing  for  generations  so  nasty  as  that  of  Servia.  As 
a  consequence  the  royal  couple  have  not  been  recog- 
nized in  any  way  by  other  royal  houses,  much  to  the 
chagrin  and  disappointment  of  Queen  Draga. 

The  latest  political  crisis  in  Servia  was  due  to  the 
lack  of  a  baby.  The  country  was  excited  by  intrigues 
attending  the  selection  of  an  heir  to  the  throne.  Our 
guide  sagaciously  observed  that  "some  people  com- 
plain of  having  too  many  children,  but  this  is  the  first 
time  I  ever  heard  of  national  politics  being  disturbed 
by  the  lack  of  one."  Servia  is  a  little  country,  but  is 
an  important  factor  in  European  politics,  being  one  of 
the  "buffer  states"  between  Russia  and  the  port  on  the 
Mediterranean  which  the  Czar  covets.  Austrian  influ- 
ence is  stronger  than  Russian,  yet  there  is  a  Russian 
party  which  also  represents  the  interest  of  a  family 
whose  ancestors  once  occupied  the  throne,  and  are  all 
the  time  suspected  of  being  engaged  in  a  conspiracy 
to  recover  power.  These  conspiracies  have  been  more 
frequent  than  ever  of  late  years,  and  the  field  for 
intrigue  is  the  more  fertile  because  Queen  Draga  has 
not  furnished  an  heir  to  the  crown,  and  the  doctors 
say  that  she  is  not  likely  to  do  so.  It  therefore 
becomes  necessary  to  select  a  successor  to  King  Alex- 
ander in  order  to  avoid  revolution  if  he  should 
suddenly  die  or  be  driven  from  the  palace.  By  select- 
ing the  heir-apparent  in  advance,  future  conspiracies 


POLITICAL   SITUATION    IN    SERVIA    251 

maybe  avoided;  but  the  political  interests  of  a  great 
part  of  the  European  continent  are  directly  involved 
in  the  selection,  and  the  question  is,  Shall  Russia 
name  the  man? 

Negotiations  were  conducted  for  several  years 
between  the  Servian  minister  of  foreign  affairs  and 
Count  Lamsdorff,  the  head  of  the  foreign  ofifice  at  St. 
Petersburg,  for  a  visit  to  the  Czar,  which  is  the  height 
of  the  ambition  of  both  King  Alexander  and  his 
Queen,  and  a  matter  of  political  importance  for  the 
Russians.  This  involved  the  political  control  of 
Servia,  and  the  nomination  of  an  heir  to  the  Servian 
throne.  Although  Queen  Draga  had  other  plans,  and 
desired  her  brother,  a  young  lieutenant  in  the  Servian 
army,  to  be  proclaimed  heir-apparent,  she  was  willing 
to  sacrifice  him  and  all  the  rest  of  her  relations  if  the 
Empress  Alix  would  receive  her.  But  the  latter,  who 
is  a  good  woman,  absolutely  refused  to  do  so,  and 
even  declined  to  answer  a  letter  which  Queen  Draga 
wrote,  imploring  her  kindly  consideration.  It  is  said 
that  she  threw  the  letter  indignantly  into  the  fire 
before  reading  it,  as  soon  as  she  discovered  whom  it  was 
from. 

It  is  one  of  the  open  secrets  of  the  Servian  court 
that  Queen  Draga  proposed  that  if  the  Emperor  and 
Empress  of  Russia  would  receive  her  husband  and 
herself  at  their  country  palace  near  Odessa,  King 
Alexander  would  nominate,  as  his  successor  on  the 
Servian  throne,  Prince  Mirko,  son  of  Prince  Nicholas 
of  Montenegro,  and  brother  of  Helena,  Queen  of  Italy. 
The  royal  family  of  Montenegro  have  very  close  rela- 
tions with  the  Russians,  and  are  always  educated  at 
St.  Petersburg.  Prince  Mirko  is  a  great  favorite  with 
the  widow  dowager  Czarina,  and  spent  several  years  of 


252    The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

his  childhood  in  her  family,  developing  a  remarkable 
taste  for  music.  He  is  such  a  clever  composer  that 
his  music  is  played  by  all  the  Russian  military  bands, 
and  is  equally  popular  in  Italy.  He  is  a  good-looking 
lad  of  twenty-one,  of  stalwart  figure  and  athletic 
habits.  His  life  has  been  very  different  from  that  of 
the  depraved  young  King  of  Servia;  in  fact,  all  the 
members  of  the  family  of  Montenegrins  have  been 
admirably  brought  up  and  are  persons  of  cultivation 
and  refinement. 

Two  of  his  sisters,  who  were  also  educated  under  the 
direction  of  the  dowager  Czarina,  have  married 
members  of  the  Russian  imperial  family,  and  their 
dowry  was  provided  by  the  late  Czar.  Danilo,  crown 
prince  of  Montenegro,  married  a  daughter  of  the  Duke 
of  Mecklenburg-Schwerin,  and  is,  therefore,  a 
brother-in-law  of  the  Grand  Duke  Vladimir,  who  gave 
him  a  million  rubles  to  start  housekeeping.  Thus  the 
interest  of  the  Russian  imperial  family,  as  well  as  the 
ministers  of  state,  was  excited  by  the  prospect  of 
securing  a  throne  for  young  Mirko,  and  the  Servians 
realized  that  such  an  inducement  would  have  great 
weight  with  the  Czarina  Alix  and  might  possibly  per- 
suade her  to  consent  to  receive  a  woman  with  even  so 
bad  a  record  as  Queen  Draga. 

The  Italian  interest  in  the  appointment  of  Mirko 
was  equally  great.  Queen  Helena  was  an  active  par- 
ticipant in  the  negotiations  with  Servia  for  Mirko's 
nomination.  The  Servians  do  not  care  so  much  for 
Italy  as  for  Russia.  Queen  Draga  did  not  care 
whether  the  Queen  of  Italy  received  her  or  not,  but  of 
course  appreciated  that  Queen  Helena  might  exert 
some  influence  upon  the  Czarina. 

There  was  still  another  and  very  important  political 


POLITICAL   SITUATION    IN   SERVIA 


253 


phase  to  the  negotiations.  Peter  Karageorgovitch, 
the  "pretender''  to  the  Servian  throne,  married  a  sister 
of  Mirko,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Prince  Nicholas,  and, 
although  she  died  in  1887,  he  is  still  considered  a 
member  of  the  Montenegrin  family,  and  the  relations 
between  his  sons  and  their  uncles  and  aunts  in  Monte- 
negro are  very  cordial.  Two  of  these  sons  are  now  at 
a  military  school  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  a  third  is  in 
the  Russian  army.  It  might  be  that  Peter  would 
renounce  formally  all  pretensions  on  the  part  of 
himself  and  the  Karageorgovitch  family  to  the  throne 
of  Servia  if  his  brother-in-law,  Mirko,  were  proclaimed 
heir-apparent.  This  would  be  a  great  advantage  to 
Servia,  and  would  do  more  than  any  other  one  thing 
to  put  an  end  to  the  conspiracies  and  political  agita- 
tions which  have  distracted  this  country. 

King  Alexander,  as  well  as  Queen  Draga,  will  have 
to  swallow  a  good  deal  of  chagrin  if  Mirko  is  selected, 
for  that  depraved  sovereign  received  a  most  humili- 
ating snub  from  the  lovely  Princess  Xenia,  the  fourth 
daughter  of  Prince  Nicholas,  which  he  cannot  have  for- 
gotten. Before  his  marriage  with  Draga  Maschin,  the 
boy  king  agreed  to  yield  to  the  importunities  of  his 
ministers  and  seek  a  wife  elsewhere,  and  there  was 
some  correspondence  concerning  an  alliance  with  the 
royal  family  of  Montenegro.  King  Alexander  made  a 
visit  to  Cetinje,  the  Montenegrin  capital,  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  young  lady  who  was  recom- 
mended as  a  suitable  bride,  but  when  the  Princess 
Xenia  saw  him  she  was  so  disgusted  with  his  appear- 
ance and  manners  that  she  refused  to  sit  at  the  same 
dinner-table  or  receive  any  attention  whatever  from 
him,  and  Alexander  had  to  be  told  that  his  suit  would 
not  be  successful.     He  left  Cetinje  in  a  state  of  furi- 


254    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

ous  indignation,  and  when  he  returned  to  his  capital 
he  dismissed  from  office  and  banished  from  the  coun- 
try all  the  members  of  his  cabinet  who  had  advised 
him  to  go  there,  and  married  Draga  Maschin  forth- 
with. 

There  was  a  sensational  scene  at  the  palace  when 
Queen  Draga's  plan  to  proclaim  her  brother  as  heir- 
apparent  was  disclosed.  He  is  said  to  be  a  reputable 
young  fellow  and  a  good  soldier,  about  twenty-four 
years  of  age,  but  he  has  no  claims  upon  the  throne, 
and  nobody  wanted  him  except  his  sister,  who,  the 
people  think,  has  already  received  more  consideration 
than  she  is  entitled  to.  His  name  is  Nikodem  Lunje- 
vitza.  At  first  nobody  believed  the  story  that  floated 
out  of  some  mysterious  quarter,  that  Alexander 
intended  to  adopt  his  brother-in-law  as  a  son  and 
name  him  as  the  future  king  of  Servia,  because  it  was 
so  audacious  as  to  be  incredible,  but  within  a  few  days 
the  confirmation  was  abundant.  The  king  expressed 
his  intention  to  three  or  four  different  persons.  Then 
the  ministry  took  up  the  matter  and  decided,  after 
long  and  serious  consultation,  that  it  would  be  an  act 
of  duty  and  patriotism  to  immediately  check  the  ambi- 
tion of  their  queen.  Therefore,  the  entire  cabinet, 
with  Mr.  Vuitsch,  the  prime  minister,  at  their  head, 
called  at  the  palace  at  an  unusual  hour  and  asked  for 
an  audience.  Alexander  must  have  suspected  the 
purpose  of  their  visit,  for,  after  keeping  them  waiting 
for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  he  appeared  in  the  full 
uniform  of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Servian 
army,  with  his  wife  upon  his  arm.  Advancing  a  few 
steps  from  the  entrance,  the  royal  couple  stood  arm- 
in-arm,  with  a  defiant  air,  while  the  eight  ministers 
arose  and  saluted  them.     Mr.  Vuitsch,  in  a  concilia- 


POLITICAL   SITUATION    IN   SERVIA    255 

tory  way,  suggested  that  as  they  desired  to  consult 
the  king  upon  a  matter  of  importance  to  the  state,  the 
presence  of  Her  Majesty  was  not  necessary.  But  Alex- 
ander had  evidently  been  through  a  rehearsal,  for  he 
replied  firmly  and  without  hesitation: 

"The  Queen  of  Servia  is  interested  as  much  as 
myself  in  all  affairs  of  state." 

The  prime  minister  bowed  in  acquiescence  and 
proceeded  to  say  that  disquieting  rumors  concerning 
the  selection  of  an  heir  to  the  throne  had  been  in 
circulation  for  several  days,  and  had  reached  the  ears 
of  the  cabinet  from  unofficial  sources.  No  notice  had 
been  taken  of  them  until  they  had  been  confirmed  by 
persons  who  were  in  the  confidence  of  His  Majesty 
more  than  his  own  cabinet  and  lawful  advisers.  There- 
fore they  deemed  it  their  duty  to  enter  a  remonstrance 
and  to  remind  him  that  the  Skupshtina,  which  was 
about  to  assemble,  under  the  constitution  must  be 
consulted,  and  their  approval  obtained  before  the 
proclamation  of  an  heir-apparent  could  be  formally 
made.  He  was  confident,  the  premier  said,  that  a 
majority  of  that  body,  which  was  Radical  in  sentiment, 
would  never  agree  to  the  choice  His  Majesty  had  made, 
and,  with  the  history  of  Servia  so  familiar  in  his 
mind,  His  Majesty  must  recognize  the  danger  to  him- 
self and  to  the  country  of  a  difference  with  his  parlia- 
ment upon  so  important  a  subject  as  the  selection  of 
his  successor.  He,  therefore,  begged  that,  before  any 
formal  steps  were  taken,  the  leaders  of  the  parliament 
should  be  consulted. 

Alexander  here  interrupted,  and  shouted  in  an 
excited  manner:     "I  shall  carry  out  my  will."^ 

"The  will  of  the  people  must  also  be  considered," 
answered  the  prime  minister  firmly. 


256     The  TURK  mid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Queen  Draga,  who  seemed  perfectly  cool  in  contrast 
to  the  agitation  of  her  husband,  motioned  to  the 
latter  to  be  silent,  and  said,  "The  will  of  the  monarch 
is  the  more  important,"  then,  whirling  the  king 
around,  she  almost  dragged  him  to  the  door,  and 
the  royal  couple  left  the  audience-chamber  without 
the  usual  formalities.  The  cabinet  exchanged  glances 
and  retired.  Within  a  few  days  they  took  occasion  to 
have  the  leader  of  the  Radical  majority  in  the  parlia- 
ment send  a  message  to  the  queen  by  a  person  who 
would  be  sure  to  deliver  it  correctly,  that  her  plan  to 
name  her  brother  as  heir  to  the  throne  would  never  be 
agreed  to,  and  admonished  her  that  her  own  safety 
required  her  to  relinquish  it. 

There  have  been  frequent  attempts  to  assassinate 
the  queen,  and  at  one  time  a  story  was  circulated  that 
she  had  committed  suicide.  It  is  believed  to  have 
originated  with  her  enemies  to  cover  a  failure  at 
assassination.  She  is  extremely  unpopular,  and  her 
vindictiveness  has  incited  a  personal  hostility  and 
provoked  attempts  upon  her  life.  Alexander  is  a 
mere  puppet  in  her  hands.  He  does  nothing  without 
her  approval.  She  is  actually  the  head  of  the  Servian 
government. 


XIII 

THE  CAPITAL  OF  SERVIA 

The  train  rolled  into  a  fine  large  station  at  ten 
o'clock  on  a  beautiful  night  in  October,  1901,  when  we 
had  an  opportunity  to  observe  how  things  are  managed 
in  a  hotbed  of  revolutions,  for  in  Servia  there  is  more 
politics  than  in  Kansas  or  Nebraska,  and  the  "ins"  are 
always  afraid  the  "outs"  are  going  to  raise  a  rumpus. 
As  a  consequence,  the  country  is  often  compared  to  a 
volcano,  and  the  government  officials  are  very  cautious 
about  admitting  strangers  and  political  exiles  into  the 
capital. 

An  hour  or  so  before  we  entered  the  Servian  bound- 
aries from  Budapest,  an  officer  in  a  dizzy  uniform  of 
scarlet  and  gold  braid  collected  our  passports,  and 
asked  a  series  of  questions  concerning  our  residences, 
birthplaces,  religion,  professions  and  "stations  in 
life,"  which  we  answered  with  accuracy  and  patience. 
Then,  shortly  before  we  arrived  at  Belgrade,  he  returned 
the  documents  with  the  most  polite  compliments. 
Alighting  from  the  car,  we  followed  the  crowd  into  a 
sort  of  chute  upon  the  station  platform,  like  those 
used  for  cattle  in  stock-yards,  at  the  end  of  which  two 
more  officers  stood,  and  again  demanded  our  passports 
and  railway  tickets.  Having  complied,  we  passed  on 
into  a  big  room  with  benches  running  up  and  down  the 
center,  where  our  luggage,  with  that  of  other  arrivals, 
was  arranged. 

The  customs  office  did  not  show  us  much  attention; 
their  inspection  of  our  luggage  was  over  in  a  minute; 

257 


258     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

but  they  overhauled  that  of  the  native  passengers  as  if 
they  meant  to  find  something.  I  suppose  they  were 
looking  for  arms,  ammunition,  incriminating  docu- 
ments or  something  of  that  sort,  or  perhaps  only  for 
liquors  and  tobacco,  which  are  government  monopo- 
lies; but  the  examinations  were  very  thorough,  and 
both  men  and  women  had  to  tumble  the  contents  of 
their  bags  and  boxes  out  upon  the  bench  in  a  most 
exasperating  manner.  One  man,  who  had  ridden  with 
us  all  the  way  from  Budapest,  evidently  had  been 
indulging  in  a  little  extravagance,  and  had  half  a 
dozen  new  collars  and  cuffs.  These  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  inspector,  who  counted  them  three  or 
four  times,  and  then  took  them  into  an  inner  room, 
where  he  weighed  them,  and  collected  a  few  coppers 
in  duty.  Hot  with  indignation  the  owner  searched  his 
pockets,  slammed  the  duty  down  upon  the  bench 
and  hurled  about  a  bushel  of  Servian  oaths  at  the 
inspector,  who  took  it  as  coolly  as  possible  and  went 
on  examining  the  luggage  of  other  people.  The  indig- 
nant man  then  began  to  collect  his  scattered  effects; 
but  between  every  three  or  four  handfuls  he  would 
explode  again.  I  do  not  know  who  he  was,  but  if  he 
ever  catches  that  customs  inspector  in  a  dark  alley 
there  will  be  a  homicide  reported  in  the  Servian  news- 
papers. 

Our  trunks  were  loaded  upon  the  box  of  an  ancient 
cab  drawn  by  a  pair  of  diminutive  animals,  which  had 
more  spirit  than  flesh,  and  whirled  around  the  corner 
of  the  station  to  a  brilliantly  lighted  ofifice,  which  the 
driver  told  us  was  the  police  headquarters,  where  our 
passports  could  be  recovered.  The  officers  were  very 
polite,  but  they  wanted  to  know  my  profession.  There 
are  often  reasons  why  one  does  not  care  to  advertise 


THE   CAPITAL   OF   SERVIA 


259 


himself  as  a  newspaper  reporter.  It  sometimes  inter- 
feres with  the  success  of  a  mission.  I  told  them  I  was 
a  traveler,  but  they  desired  something  a  little  more 
definite.  So,  for  the  time  being,  I  concluded  to  be  a 
gentleman  of  leisure,  and  was  visiting  Servia  in  pursuit 
of  the  picturesque.  The  chief  was  extremely  deferen- 
tial and  hoped  he  had  not  put  me  to  any  inconvenience. 
He  insisted  upon  shaking  hands,  and  bowed  us  to  the 
door  with  the  grace  of  a  dancing-master. 

The  big  cafe  of  the  hotel  to  which  we  were  driven 
was  filled  with  blue  smoke.  Underneath  the  cloud  we 
could  discern  a  crowd  of  men  earnestly  engaged  in  a 
discussion  which  they  kept  up  until  an  early  hour  in 
the  morning,  and  we  learned  that  the  chief  occupation 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  was  drinking 
beer,  talking  politics  and  smoking  cigarettes.  The 
next  morning  was  Sunday,  and  the  cafe  was  again 
filled  at  an  early  hour,  with  women  as  well  as  men,  and 
every  table  was  occupied  all  day  long,  while  the  ciga- 
rette smoke  hung  over  their  heads  like  a  blue  mist  and 
concealed  the  ceiling.  It  was  always  so  as  long  as  we 
remained  in  Belgrade.  The  cafe  was  crowded  when 
we  came  downstairs  in  the  morning  and  when  we  went 
to  bed  at  night,  and  the  consumption  of  beer,  wine, 
coffee  and  cigarettes  must  be  very  large. 

Sunday  morning  the  king  gave  an  audience  to  the 
Skicpshtifia,  as  parliament  is  called,  and  it  was,  there- 
fore, one  of  the  great  days  of  the  year.  The  bishops 
and  the  clergy,  in  their  magnificent,  embroidered  vest- 
ments, were  even  more  imposing  than  the  generals  in 
uniforms  of  blue,  scarlet  and  green,  with  gold  braid. 
The  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps  in  court  dress 
were  led  by  the  Turkish  minister  and  his  suite.  The 
Austrian  and  Russian  representatives  were  handsomely 


26o    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

decorated  and  made  a  fine  appearance.  They  were 
watched  with  interest  because  it  is  supposed  that  both 
are  intriguing  for  the  control  of  the  country.  The 
members  of  the  Shipshtvia  were  clad  in  black 
evening  dress,  with  embroidered  shirt-fronts,  white 
ties  and  white  gloves.  A  band  of  music  stood  in  the 
area  beside  the  palace  and  played  lively  airs  while  the 
ceremonies  were  going  on,  and  a  battalion  of  the 
king's  bodyguard,  in  brilliant  uniforms  like  those  of 
the  Austrian  Hussars,  was  drawn  up  in  two  lines, 
between  which  everybody  had  to  pass.  I  looked  at 
those  troops  with  peculiar  interest,  because  upon  their 
loyalty  the  life  of  the  king  depends.  Most  of  them 
are  young  men,  some  mere  boys,  but  they  all  had 
intelligent  faces  and  seemed  conscious  of  their  respon- 
sibility. 

The  royal  palace,  which  is  in  the  center  of  the  city 
of  Belgrade,  is  in  two  parts  and  disconnected.  One 
resembles  a  French  chateau  and  looks  like  a  comfort- 
able home,  being  pleasantly  and  tastefully  fitted  up. 
It  is  only  two  stories  in  height,  the  lower  floor  contain- 
ing the  drawing,  dining  and  reception  rooms  and  the 
upper  floor  the  living  apartments.  It  is  large  enough 
for  an  ordinary  family,  and  would  make  an  acceptable 
abode  for  a  gentleman  of  wealth  and  culture.  The 
other  part,  which  is  across  an  area  forty^or  fifty  feet 
wide,  is  a  more  pretentious  structure,  which  rises  next 
to  the  street,  without  grounds,  and  looks  like  a  public 
building.  It  is  known  as  the  New  Konak,  and  was 
built  by  Milan,  the  gambler  king,  for  entertaining 
purposes.  The  exterior  as  well  as  the  interior  is  very 
pretentious,  being  of  stuccoed  brick,  with  elaborate 
moldings,  four  stories  high  and  painted  yellow,  like 
nearly   all    the   government    buildings    and    business 


THE    CAPITAL   OF   SERVIA  261 

blocks.  Within  is  a  series  of  magnificent  apartments, 
equal  to  those  in  the  palaces  at  Berlin  and  Vienna, 
designed  by  a  French  architect  and  finished  with 
tapestries  and  gilding  at  a  cost  that  was  enormous  for 
the  size  and  wealth  of  the  country.  The  guards  are 
thick  around  the  palace,  which  indicates  either  lack  of 
confidence  or  a  cowardly  king.  But  the  precaution  is 
well  taken. 

Sunday  morning  everybody  goes  to  market,  and  the 
display  of  fish,  meats  and  vegetables  is  large  and 
interesting.  On  one  side  of  the  principal  square  were 
butchers,  hucksters,  and  dealers  in  knickknacks  from 
Servia,  while  everything  on  the  other  came  from  Hun- 
gary, across  the  River  Save,  and  paid  duty.  The 
latter  and  their  wares  were  much  better  looking,  and 
the  venders  wore  better  garments  than  the  Servians, 
many  of  them  appearing  in  the  Hungarian  national 
costume.  Their  butter  and  cheese  were  more  appeti- 
zing and  were  displayed  in  a  neater  manner;  their  vege- 
tables were  superior  to  those  of  Servian  growth,  the 
meat  was  of  a  better  quality,  and  it  was,  therefore,  not 
surprising  when  we  were  told  that  the  wealthy  class  of 
the  population  patronized  the  Hungarians  and  paid  a 
little  more  for  their  supplies.  The  common  people 
buy  food  at  the  Servian  end  of  the  market.  The  fruits 
were  beautiful,  especially  the  grapes  and  plums. 
From  those  plums  are  made  the  prunes  of  commerce, 
and  a  large  part  of  our  supply  comes  from  Servia. 
Plums  are  the  largest  and  most  valuable  crop  of  the 
country.  The  exports  of  dried  prunes  were  more  than 
forty  thousand  tons  in  1901,  and  from  thirty  to  forty 
thousand  tons  were  used  in  the  distillation  of  plum 
brandy. 

Servia  is  an  agricultural  country,  and  out  of  a  popu- 


262     The  TURK  a^id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

lation  of  2,312,000,  eighty-seven  per  cent  are  engaged 
in  farming,  the  number  of  individual  farms  being 
293,421,  generally  comprising  from  twenty  to  thirty 
acres  each.  Over  300,000  acres  are  devoted  to  plum 
trees.  The  next  best  crops  are  wheat,  grass  and 
corn.  Pigs  are  one  of  the  staple  products.  After  the 
war  with  Bulgaria  a  few  years  ago,  in  which  Servia 
was  defeated,  it  was  proposed  to  pay  an  indemnity  of 
a  million  and  a  half  of  swine  instead  of  cash.  There 
are  large  flocks  of  sheep  and  a  good  deal  of  wool  is 
handled,  and  the  ranges  are  well  stocked  with  cattle. 
Whenever  Servia  has  a  period  of  peace  the  flocks 
and  herds  increase  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  wealth 
of  the  country  grows  like  compound  interest.  Servia 
has  been  extensively  advertised  as  "a  poor  man's 
paradise,"  as  the  soil,  climate  and  other  conditions 
are  favorable  for  people  of  small  means.  Farms  can 
be  bought  for  small  sums  of  money,  and  the  ranges  for 
cattle  and  sheep  are  usually  public  lands,  which  cost 
nothing  except  a  small  tax  which  is  paid  into  the 
treasury  of  the  township  or  commune.  Recently 
several  new  industries  have  been  established.  A  Ger- 
man company  has  built  a  large  beet-sugar  factory  within 
sight  of  Belgrade,  and  a  linen  manufactory  has  been 
erected  by  Belgian  capital.  There  are  several  match 
factories,  flour-mills,  tanneries  and  breweries,  and  the 
government  is  proposing  to  pay  subsidies  to  encourage 
the  introduction  of  woolen  mills  and  other  mechanical 
industries  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  Servia  is 
prospering.  There  is  plenty  of  work  at  good  wages, 
but  at  the  same  time  considerable  emigration  to  the 
United  States  and  to  the  neighboring  countries, 
because  of  a  disinclination  among  the  young  men  to 
spend  five  years  of  their  lives  in  the  military  service. 


THE   CAPITAL    OF   SERVIA  263 

At  market  we  saw  a  bride  in  the  native  dress,  who 
had  just  come  from  the  church  where  the  marriage 
ceremony  had  been  performed,  and  was  receiving  the 
congratulations  of  her  friends  and  neighbors,  while  her 
proud  husband  stood  at  her  side  and  was  envied.  She 
was  a  buxom  damsel  of  the  Swedish  type,  with  blond 
hair  and  a  clear  blue  eye.  Her  head  was  covered  with 
a  peculiar  turban,  from  which  hung  clusters  of  silver 
coins.  Long  strings  of  coins  were  suspended  from  a 
necklace  and  a  girdle,  and  hung  over  her  shoulders 
and  hips,  and  must  have  been  very  heavy.  These 
were  her  dowry.  She  had  begun  to  save  them  during 
her  childhood,  and  instead  of  putting  them  in  a 
savings-bank  had  strung  them  together  for  ornaments 
and  had  worn  some  or  all  of  them  on  festive  occasions 
to  attract  the  attention  of  the  eligible  young  men  of 
the  neighborhood.  They  were  of  different  denomi- 
nations, large  and  small,  and  were  arranged  with  a 
good  deal  of  taste.  The  custom  of  the  country  permits 
a  bride  to  control  her  dowry  after  marriage,  and  many 
women  are  able  to  preserve  their  wedding  coins  and 
transmit  them  to  their  children.  Sometimes  they  are 
exchanged  for  a  piece  of  land,  a  cottage,  or  cattle,  and 
sometimes  the  coins  are  taken,  one  by  one,  from  the 
string,  to  meet  emergencies  in  domestic  economy.  As 
a  rule,  however,  the  peasants  of  Servia  are  well-to-do, 
and  as  long  as  peace  can  be  preserved  they  are  able  to 
live  comfortably  and  save  money. 

The  city  of  Belgrade  lies  upon  a  narrow,  elevated 
peninsula  between  the  River  Save  and  the  Danube.  It 
has  improved  considerably  during  the  last  quarter  of 
a  century.  The  streets  are  wide  and  lined  with  fine 
buildings  after  the  Austrian  style  of  architecture,  with 
frequent   open    squares    which    the    public    uses    for 


264     'r^'^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

market-places.  The  older  part  of  the  city,  nearest  to 
the  banks  of  the  rivers,  which  was  built  duringTurkish 
domination,  is  composed  of  low  buildings  of  adobe, 
with  roofs  of  red  tile,  fronting  upon  narrow  and 
crooked  streets  and  abounding  in  filth  and  bad  smells. 
One  part  is  given  up  to  the  Jewish  population,  who 
are  huddled  together  in  narrow  quarters  called  the 
Ghetto,  although  many  are  supposed  to  be  rich  and  to 
own  large  areas  of  valuable  real  estate  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  city.  There  is  no  persecution  of  the  Jews 
in  Servia.  Freedom  of  worship  is  granted  by  the  con- 
stitution, although  the  state  religion  is  the  Greek 
orthodox.  Out  of  a  total  population  of  2,312,484 
souls  2,281,018  are  communicants  of  that  church.  The 
Roman  Catholics  number  10,411;  the  Mohammedan 
gypsies,  11,586;  Turks,  2,489;  Jews,  5,102;  Protest- 
ants, 1,002. 

The  prevailing  prejudice  against  the  Jews  is  due  to 
their  success  in  business  rather  than  to  religious 
scruples.  They  are  not  allowed  to  hold  office, 
although  there  is  no  legal  prohibition,  and  are  often 
hooted  at  in  the  streets.  In  ordinary  business  transac- 
tions the  keen  rivalry  of  the  Jews  is  exasperating  to 
their  Christian  competitors,  and  their  commercial 
enterprise  in  all  directions  has  interfered  considerably 
with  the  prosperity  of  the  natives.  In  the  mercantile 
trade  they  have  the  best  shops  and  undersell  the 
Christians;  in  brokerage  and  the  commission  business 
they  show  a  shrewdness  and  prudence  which  enable 
them  to  make  money  while  others  lose,  and  they  have 
thus  acquired  wealth  and  commercial  influence  which 
make  them  objects  of  envy.  I  did  not  hear  any 
Christian  say  a  good  word  of  a  Jew  in  Servia,  but 
at  the  same  time    I   was    not    able    to    discover    an 


THE   CAPITAL   OF   SERVIA  265 

instance  in  which  a  member  of  that  race  has  failed  to 
fulfill  his  contracts  or  has  asked  more  than  his  due. 
The  persecution  of  the  Jews  in  the  neighboring 
Kingdom  of  Roumania,  where  they  form  a  large 
portion  of  the  population,  is  becoming  desperate. 
There  the  restrictions  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  still  in 
force.  Jewish  children  are  not  allowed  to  attend  the 
public  schools;  Jewish  students  are  not  admitted  to 
the  technical  schools  or  the  university;  Jewish  opera- 
tives cannot  be  employed  in  manufacturing  establish- 
ments; the  Jews  are  prohibited  from  practicing 
professions  and  engaging  in  certain  kinds  of  commer- 
cial business,  the  object  being  to  drive  them  out  of  the 
country.  All  this  is  in  violation  of  the  provisions  of 
the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  under  which  the  Kingdom  of  Rou- 
mania received  the  protection  of  the  great  Powers,  but 
it  is  useless  for  the  Jews  to  appeal  because  they  cannot 
get  a  hearing.  There  is  no  such  trouble  in  Servia  or 
Bulgaria,  and  for  that  reason  a  considerable  emigration 
from  Roumania  is  moving  that  way. 

Since  the  time  of  King  Michael,  Servia  has  had  an 
excellent  school  system  and  a  law  making  education 
compulsory.  All  children  between  the  ages  of  seven 
and  fourteen  must  attend  school,  and  since  1865,  when 
only  four  per  cent  of  the  population  could  read  and 
write,  there  has  been  remarkable  advancement.  There 
are  a  number  of  academies,  a  school  of  commerce,  an 
agricultural  college,  a  school  of  wine-culture  and  a 
university  with  four  hundred  and  thirty-six  students, 
of  whom  twenty-eight  are  women.  In  addition  to 
these  there  are  also  twenty-seven  hospitetis,  or  guests — 
students  who  are  too  poor  to  pay  the  matriculation 
fees,  but  are  allowed  to  attend  the  lectures  and  enjoy 
the   full  benefit    of    the    university  training   without 


266     The  TURK  atid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

receiving  degrees.  The  university  occupies  a  fine 
building  opposite  the  principal  square,  and  has  a  well- 
selected  library  of  forty  thousand  volumes.  The 
entire  expense  of  the  university  is  paid  by  the  national 
treasury,  and  during  the  year  1900  was  ^109,000. 
There  are  four  faculties — law,  medicine,  science  and 
philosophy. 

Some  of  the  school  buildings  are  excellent  examples 
of  modern  construction  and  convenience,  and  they 
show  an  educational  enterprise  that  is  creditable  to  the 
country.  The  government  supports  a  museum  of 
natural  history,  a  theater  for  the  encouragement  of 
opera  and  the  drama  in  the  native  tongue,  and  a  small 
picture-gallery,  which  contains  an  interesting  collec- 
tion of  portraits  of  national  characters  and  several 
examples  of  old  masters  which  have  been  presented 
from  time  to  time.  There  are  also  a  number  of  paint- 
ings by  native  artists.  One  of  them,  representing  the 
coronation  of  an  early  king  of  Servia,  was  awarded  a 
gold  medal  at  the  Paris  Salon  in  1900,  and  was 
purchased  by  the  government  as  an  encouragement  to 
other  artists.  Nearly  all  the  pictures  by  native  artists 
relate  to  historical  events — warfare,  massacres  and 
assassinations,  dying  women  and  headless  men,  for 
the  history  of  Servia  has  been  a  chronicle  of  horrors. 

There  are  a  public  park  and  children's  playground, 
with  swings,  merry-go-rounds,  toboggan  slides  and 
other  amusements;  a  musical  garden,  where  a  military 
band  plays  two  or  three  times  a  week;  and  a  botanical 
collection  that  promises  well.  In  the  parks  and  public 
square  are  a  number  of  statues  and  monuments  to 
Servian  military  heroes,  poets  and  literary  men. 

The  Servian  language  is  a  mixture  of  the  Russian 
and  Greek  and  is  similar  to  that  of  Bulgaria. 


THE    CAPITAL    OF   SERVIA  267 

The  cathedral  is  a  commonplace  building  with  a 
fantastic  tower  of  Byzantine  style.  It  is  interesting 
only  because  it  contains  the  tombs  of  Kings  Milos 
and  Michael.  The  epitaph  of  the  latter  reads:  "Thy 
memory  shall  not  perish."  Karageorge  is  buried  in 
the  woods  in  the  mountains  where  he  was  assassinated. 
King  Milan  was  buried  in  Vienna,  where  he  died  in 
1899. 

At  the  extreme  point  of  the  peninsula,  at  the 
junction  of  the  Save  and  the  Danube,  is  a  promontory 
rising  between  three  and  four  hundred  feet,  with  sheer 
cliffs  at  the  point  and  on  both  sides.  Here  a  fortress 
was  erected  by  the  Romans  before  the  time  of  Christ. 
Much  of  the  original  wall  still  remains  and  the 
inclosure  has  been  used  continuously  for  military  pur- 
poses for  at  least  two  thousand  years.  There  are  two 
series  of  fortifications,  both  protected  by  moats  and 
double  walls,  and  the  citadel  must  have  been  impreg- 
nable before  the  invention  of  heavy  artillery.  It  com- 
mands a  wide  valley,  and  the  view  from  the  point  is 
one  of  the  most  attractive  in  Europe. 

The  castle  is  in  an  excellent  state  of  preservation 
and  the  outer  walls  are  used  as  a  prison  for  all  kinds 
of  offenders.  The  prison  is  well  kept,  the  inmates  are 
humanely  treated  and  every  Sunday  morning  are 
allowed  to  send  to  the  public  market  articles  of  their 
handiwork  to  be  sold  for  their  own  benefit.  Every 
prisoner  is  allowed  to  prosecute  his  trade  if  he  has  one 
and  enjoy  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  everything  he 
makes.  If  he  is  a  shoemaker  or  a  tailor  he  can  con- 
tinue to  work  for  his  customers,  and  one  day  of  the 
week  he  is  allowed  to  receive  visitors,  who  bring  him 
orders  and  take  away  goods  that  are  finished.  Women 
prisoners  do  sewing  and  embroidery.     At  the  market 


268     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

on  Sunday  the  stand  for  the  sale  of  prison-made  goods 
is  attended  by  officers  of  the  police,  who  take  the 
names  of  purchasers  and  the  prices  of  the  articles 
purchased.  During  the  last  few  years  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  has  been  much  improved  and  the  courts 
are  said  to  be  well  managed. 

Within  the  walls  of  the  citadel  are  barracks  for  a 
regiment  of  artillery,  residences  for  the  commander  of 
the  army  and  his  staff,  a  school  for  the  education  of 
non-commissioned  officers,  a  church  which  the  soldiers 
are  required  to  attend,  and  the  headquarters  of  the 
military  administration.  There  is  also  a  memorial 
mosque,  which  was  erected  in  honor  of  Hadji  Mus- 
tapha  who  governed  Servia  early  in  the  last  century, 
and,  strange  to  say,  was  beloved  by  the  people.  He 
was  murdered  by  the  Janizaries  because  he  was  too  just 
and  liberal. 

The  remains  of  Roman  times  are  interesting  and 
among  the  best  preserved  in  Europe.  In  the  center  of 
the  citadel  is  a  well  containing  fifty-five  feet  of  water, 
on  a  level  with  the  Danube  River,  which  is  reached  by 
descending  four  hundred  and  thirty-two  steps.  The 
well  is  surrounded  by  a  brick  wall  three  feet  thick. 
The  steps  wind  around  it,  and  you  go  down,  down, 
down  into  the  darkness  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
until  the  water-level  is  reached,  where  there  is  a 
chamber  of  considerable  size,  evidently  intended  for 
storage  of  ammunition.  This  well  is  said  to  be  nearly 
two  thousand  years  old,  yet  the  brick-work  is  almost 
perfect.  It  was  built  by  the  Romans  to  furnish  water 
for  the  garrison  in  case  of  a  siege. 

Below  the  walls  of  the  citadel,  upon  the  banks  of 
the  Danube,  are  two  large  barracks  capable  of  accom- 
modating twenty-five  hundred  men,  with  magazines  for 


THE   CAPITAL   OF  SERVIA  269 

the  storage  of  powder,  and  an  old  tower  called  the 
Nebojsche,  or  torture-tower,  which  is  supposed  to  have 
formerly  had  an  underground  connection  with  the 
citadel,  but  it  has  been  filled  up  and  forgotten  for  cen- 
turies. Here  prisoners  were  taken  to  be  tortured  and 
executed,  and  their  bodies  were  thrown  into  the 
Danube. 

Military  service  is  compulsory.  Every  young  man 
of  sound  body,  when  he  becomes  of  age,  must  serve 
two  years  in  the  army,  eight  years  in  the  reserve,  and 
ten  years  in  the  national  militia,  or  second  reserve. 
The  active  strength  of  the  army  in  time  of  peace  is 
35,640  men,  the  first  reserve  160,751,  and  the  second 
reserve  126,110,  making  a  total  of  322,501  men  capable 
of  military  service  in  time  of  war.  The  army  is  organ- 
ized and  uniformed  on  the  Russian  plan,  and  has  been 
trained  by  Russian  officers. 

Every  man  who  has  performed  military  service  is 
entitled  to  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  all  others  who  pay 
taxes  to  the  extent  of  fifteen  francs  a  year. 

There  are  no  paupers  in  Servia,  and  therefore  no 
need  of  almshouses.  There  is  a  free  hospital  for  both 
military  and  civilian  patients,  which  is  well  kept. 

Three  miles  from  town,  a  park  called  Topschider, 
reached  by  a  line  of  electric  cars,  surrounds  a  country 
palace  in  which  King  Michael  lived  much  of  his  time. 
There  is  a  farm  where  he  conducted  experiments  in 
agriculture  and  horticulture.  In  the  upper  rooms  of 
the  palace  are  cases  containing  his  library  of  agricul- 
tural works,  many  of  which  are  in  English;  glass  jars 
filled  with  seeds  which  he  imported  from  foreign 
countries  for  experimental  purposes,  and  glass  cases 
containing  wax  casts  of  apples,  pears,  peaches,  grapes 
and  other  fruits  which  he  raised.     Here  he  lived  the 


270     The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

life  of  a  farmer  and  devoted  his  time  to  studying  the 
interests  of  his  people;  and  here  he  was  assassinated 
by  conspirators  who  were  not  allowed  to  have  the 
share  they  wanted  in  the  control  of  the  government. 

The  park  is  very  pretty,  and  in  front  of  the  palace 
is  a  group  of  noble  old  sycamores,  one  of  which  is  said 
to  be  the  largest  tree  in  Europe.  Its  branches  extend 
over  a  diameter  of  more  than  two  hundred  feet  and 
are  sustained  by  props.  We  paced  it  and  made  it 
thirty  paces  from  the  trunk  to  the  tip  of  the  outermost 
branch.  The  trunk  is  twenty-two  feet  in  circumfer- 
ence, and  the  tree  is  perfectly  healthy  and  sym- 
metrical. 

The  house,  or  palace,  so  called,  is  rude  and  uncom- 
fortable. There  is  nothing  attractive  about  it.  The 
rooms  are  dark,  dismal  and  ill-furnished,  but  it  was 
the  favorite  residence  of  King  Milos  and  of  King 
Michael  who  were  men  of  primitive  tastes.  Milos 
died  in  an  upper  chamber  he  used  to  occupy,  and 
everything  remains  as  he  left  it — his  bed,  his  clothing, 
his  slippers  and  a  tattered  old  dressing-gown  hanging 
on  a  nail. 


PART  IV 

Bosnia 


271 


PART  IV 

BOSNIA 
XIV 

A  REMARKABLE   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION 

The  problem  which  is  puzzling  the  United  States  in 
the  Philippine  Islands  should  give  our  people  a 
particular  interest  in  the  little  state  of  Bosnia,  where 
a  similar  situation  has  been  successfully  handled 
by  the  Austrians.  From  1463  to  1878  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  were  a  part  of  the  Turkish  Empire, 
and  are  nominally  so  still,  although  under  Austrian 
authority.  While  subject  to  the  Turks,  they  prac- 
tically vanished  from  the  current  of  civilization. 
Scarcely  a  ray  of  light  or  progress  brightened  the 
intellectual,  social  and  industrial  stagnation  that  set- 
tled upon  these  people  until  1875,  when,  exasperated 
by  extortion,  taxation,  robbery,  rapine,  murder  and 
religious  persecution,  they  rose  in  rebellion.  Upon 
the  failure  of  the  Sultan  to  restore  order,  the  great 
Powers  of  Europe,  at  the  Berlin  Conference  of  1878, 
placed  the  two  provinces  under  the  protection  of 
Austria,  although  still  requiring  them  to  pay  tribute 
to  Turkey. 

The  success  of  the  Austrians  has  been  chiefly  due  to 
the  methods  adopted  by  Count  von  Kallay,  the  able 
Hungarian  statesman  who  has  been  practically  a  dic- 
tator since  1878.  For  Austria  to  reconcile  a  proud 
people  of   different  races  and  religions  was  no  easy 

273 


274     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

task.  The  results  speak  volumes  for  the  forbearance 
and  tact  shown  by  the  ofificials,  and  demonstrate  the 
practicability  of  governing  an  alien  race  by  justice, 
benevolence  and  liberal  treatment. 

Thirty  years  ago  Bosnia  was  in  the  same  condition 
that  Macedonia  is  to-day,  except  that  it  was  worse  in 
the  respect  that  it  had  a  much  larger  proportion  of 
Mohammedans  and  Turkish  outlaws.  The  population 
were  not  fit  for  liberty,  and  if  it  had  been  granted 
them  by  the  Berlin  Conference,  as  they  demanded,  it 
would  have  been  a  curse  instead  of  a  blessing.  A 
German  writer,  shortly  before  the  Russo-Turkish  war, 
described  the  situation  in  these  words:  "The  misrule 
existing  in  the  whole  of  the  Turkish  Empire  is  so  great 
and  so  universal  that  it  can  be  best  characterized  as  a 
state  of  chronic  and  chaotic  anarchy.  One  province, 
however,  and  that  perhaps  the  least  known  of  all,  has 
in  this  respect  a  sad  preeminence.  It  is  a  province 
where  one  can  travel  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty, 
and  with  not  less  danger  than  in  the  wilds  of  Kurdis- 
tan, where  the  intolerance  and  hate  against  the  Chris- 
tians is  more  living  and  active  than  around  fanatical 
Damascus,  and  where  the  condition  of  the  people  is 
more  abject  and  hopeless  than  that  of  any  Fellaheen 
upon  the  Nile.     That  province  is  Bosnia." 

One  who  visits  that  country  to-day  can  scarcely 
believe  that  such  conditions  could  have  existed  only  a 
short  time  ago — the  people  are  so  peaceful,  con- 
tented and  prosperous.  Crime  is  almost  unknown. 
Railroads  reach  every  corner  of  the  province,  and  the 
freighthouses  are  fed  by  long  caravans  of  carts  hauled 
over  excellent  highways.  The  towns  are  filled  with 
new  and  handsome  houses,  factories  have  been  built  to 
utilize  the  water  power,   a  university,   colleges,  acad- 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  275 

emies,  training-schools  and  other  institutions  have 
been  established  to  qualify  the  people  to  make  the 
most  intelligent  use  of  their  opportunities.  Members 
of  the  different  religious  faiths  mix  with  each  other 
on  amicable  terms  and  show  mutual  respect  and 
mutual  toleration;  the  courts  are  wisely  and  honestly 
administered,  justice  is  awarded  to  every  citizen 
regardless  of  his  religion  or  social  position,  taxes  are 
low  and  honestly  collected  and  disbursed.  There  has 
been  little  corruption  in  office  and  whenever  it  has 
been  discovered  it  has  been  severely  punished.  The 
people  have  learned  for  the  first  time  in  their  history 
that  honest  complaints  will  be  patiently  listened  to 
and  that  wrongs  will  be  redressed.  The  introduction 
of  free  education  has  enabled  them  to  appreciate  the 
value  of  such  a  government,  and,  although  the  older 
peasants  are  still  ignorant,  backward  and  distrustful, 
the  younger  generation  show  ambition  and  enterprise, 
and  are  conducting  their  affairs  with  intelligence  and 
order. 

The  most  convincing  proof  of  the  change  in  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  is  furnished  by  the  statistics  of  crime 
and  violence  and  the  increase  in  population.  Thirty 
years  ago  brigandage  was  a  recognized  profession. 
There  were  no  railways,  and  few  wagon  roads.  When 
people  were  compelled  to  travel  they  went  in  large 
parties,  fully  armed,  or  were  accompanied  by  an 
escort  of  soldiers.  Murder  was  not  considered  a  crime 
and  the  number  of  people  killed  by  the  soldiers  or  by 
each  other  was  not  recorded.  Robbery  was  as  com- 
mon as  lying.  To-day  human  life  is  as  safe  in  Bosnia 
as  in  Illinois.  Travel  is  safer  there  because  there  has 
never  been  a  train  robbery  in  that  country.  During 
the  last  ten  years,  out  of  a  total  population  of  nearly 


276    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

2,000,000,  the  homicides  have  averaged  six  a  year,  and 
in  1900  there  were  only  two.  There  has  been  no  case 
of  highway  robbery  since  1895.  Which  of  the  states 
in  the  American  Union  can  show  a  better  record? 

Under  Turkish  rule  the  population  was  not  counted 
but  in  1879,  one  year  after  Austrian  authority  was 
recognized,  the  census  showed  1,111,216  people.  In 
1885  this  total  had  increased  to  1,336,097,  in  1895  to 
1,568,092,  and  in  1900  to  1,879,978,  of  which  548,632 
were  Turks,  673,246  Greek  orthodox,  494,124  Roman 
Catholics,  9,311  Jews,  4,695  Protestants  and  repre- 
sentatives of  nearly  every  religion.  This  change  has 
been  accomplished  by  the  exercise  of  a  strong,  firm, 
honest  and  benevolent  government.  The  proclama- 
tion announcing  the  occupation  of  the  country  by 
Austria  promised  that  all  the  people  in  the  land 
should  enjoy  equal  rights  before  the  law  and  should  be 
protected  in  life,  property  and  worship.  That  promise 
has  been  kept.  Order  has  been  brought  out  of 
anarchy;  all  races  and  religions  are  not  only  tolerated, 
but  are  encouraged,  and  the  immigration  from  other 
Turkish  provinces  has  been  large. 

Whatever  has  been  done  in  Bosnia  might  also  be 
done  in  Macedonia  but  for  the  jealousy  of  the  Powers. 

Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  are  situated  in  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  Slavonian  province  of  Austro-Hungary, 
on  the  east  by  Servia,  Turkey  and  Montenegro,  and  on 
the  south  and  west  by  Dalmatia  and  the  Adriatic  Sea. 
The  country  is  mountainous,  being  broken  by  high 
peaks,  deep  glens,  ridges,  beautifully  wooded  hills, 
winding  streams,  and  rich  alluvial  basins,  which  yield 
large  crops  of  grain — wheat,  barley,  rye,  oats  and 
other   cereals — and  are    especially   adapted    to    fruit. 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  277 

The  landscape  is  a  series  of  terraces  which  slope 
gradually  in  a  southweslward  direction  and  finally 
disappear  in  the  Adriatic,  whose  coast  is  broken  into 
an  archipelago  of  lovely  islands.  The  Dalmatian 
coast  is  one  of  the  most  enchanting  pictures  in  the 
universe,  and  its  attractions  have  been  the  theme  of 
poets  since  the  days  of  Homer. 

A  curious  phenomenon  is  the  abrupt  and  unreason- 
able behavior  of  the  rivers  and  streams  in  that  region, 
which,  like  the  North  Platte  of  Nebraska,  disappear 
from  the  surface  of  the  earth  and  lose  themselves  in 
underground  passages  caUed  ponars,  reappearing  in  the 
most  eccentric  and  surprising  manner.  The  Narenta 
is  the  only  river  that  finds  its  way  to  the  sea  entirely 
above  ground. 

Sarajevo,  the  capital  of  Bosnia,  a  city  of  60,000 
inhabitants,  almost  in  the  geographical  center  of  the 
country,  is  reached  by  railway  from  Belgrade  or  from 
Budapest.  You  change  from  the  trunk-line  of  the  Aus- 
trian state  railway  at  a  town  called  Bosna-brod  on  the 
Save  River,  which  is  the  boundary  of  the  province, 
and  there  you  take  a  narrow-gauge  line  belonging  to 
the  Bosnian  government,  which  winds  through  narrow 
defiles  in  the  mountains  until  it  reaches  the  Adriatic  at 
Metcovic,  the  port  of  Bosnia,  although  within  Dalma- 
tian territory.  Along  the  railway  villages  and  villas 
cling  to  the  mountain  sides  like  swallow-nests  and  are 
very  picturesque,  the  older  ones  being  of  oriental 
architecture  with  towers  and  minarets,  and  roofs  of 
red  tiles.  There  are  several  medieval  castles,  more  or 
less  in  ruins,  interspersed  with  modern  paper  mills, 
tanneries,  cigarette  factories  and  other  industrial 
enterprises  introduced  by  the  Austrians.  One  of  those 
old  castles  has  been  converted  into  a  prison,  and  is 


278    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

managed  on  the  Pennsylvania  plan,  with  the  most 
enlightened  methods  for  correction,  reformation  and 
education.  Under  the  Turks  prisons  were  more  com- 
mon, but  were  used  to  satisfy  vengeance,  to  extort 
money  from  unwilling  pockets  and  to  torture  political 
suspects  and  offenders.  They  were  similar  to  the 
prisons  of  Cuba,  perhaps  worse;  but  under  the  present 
system  of  government  the  prevention  of  crime  and  the 
reformation  of  criminals  have  been  the  subject  of  great 
solicitude  and  scientific  study. 

Looking  from  the  car  windows  between  villages  you 
would  think  the  train  was  running  through  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  The  fantastic  crags  and  peaks  of  granite, 
the  deep  cuttings,  the  many  tunnels,  the  chasms 
spanned  by  steel  bridges  and  the  "right  of  way"  carved 
out  of  the  sides  of  precipices,  with  the  roaring,  foam- 
ing streams,  would  remind  you  of  Colorado.  The 
train  is  hauled  over  the  grand  divide,  2,667  feet 
high,  by  what  is  called  the  "rack-and-pinion  process," 
which,  however,  must  remain  a  mystery,  because  it 
does  not  stop  for  passengers  to  inspect;  but  it  is  some 
description  of  a  cable-and-cog-wheel  arrangement. 
The  longest  tunnel  is  700  yards.  The  trains  run  very 
slowly  and  carefully,  as  if  afraid  of  accidents,  and  it  is 
a  long  journey  to  cover  comparatively  a  few  miles. 
As  a  bird  flies,  the  distance  between  Bosna-brod  and 
Sarajevo  is  less  than  a  hundred  miles,  but  winding  in 
and  out  among  the  gorges  and  following  the  long 
curves  made  necessary  to  regulate  the  grade,  you  get 
an  all-day's  ride,  but  finally  reach  a  vast  garden  of 
vineyards,  olive  groves,  foliage  plants  and  truck  farms 
in  an  amphitheater  surrounded  by  snow-clad  peaks. 

Near  Sarajevo  is  a  mountain  called  Trebovic,  5,100 
feet  high,  which  furnishes  a  sublime  view  of  the  sur- 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  279 

rounding  country  for  a  radius  of  fifty  miles  within  the 
circle  of  the  mountain.  There  is  a  pavilion  at  the 
summit,  reached  by  a  good  bridle  path,  which  was 
built,  like  everything  else,  by  the  Austrian  officials. 

Approaching  the  city  of  Sarajevo  the  railway  runs 
through  a  famous  gorge.  The  rails  cling  to  the  granite 
walls  that  inclose  the  Narenta  River  in  a  way  that 
reminds  you  of  the  Black  Canon  of  Utah.  The  gorge 
is  twelve  miles  long,  peaks  6,000  and  7,000  feet  high  rise 
on  either  side,  and  the  precipices  are  almost  perpendic- 
ular to  the  height  of  1,000  feet  above  the  riverbed. 

Sarajevo  is  a  partly  modernized  Turkish  town,  and 
in  its  architecture  and  arrangement  a  curious  combina- 
tion of  the  old  and  the  new,  the  Orient  and  the  Occi- 
dent. It  is  half  Turkish  and  half  Austrian,  and  so 
many  of  the  inhabitants  cling  tenaciously  to  their 
native  customs  that  they  add  to  the  picturesqueness 
of  the  place.  I  was  told  that  the  city  contains  a  larger 
variety  of  types  of  the  oriental  races  than  even  Con- 
stantinople, and  that  in  the  bazaar  may  be  seen  daily  a 
sample  of  every  native  costume  worn  from  the  Straits 
of  Gibraltar  to  the  Red  Sea.  It  requires  much  local 
experience  and  sartorial  knowledge  to  distinguish  a 
Dalmatian  from  a  Serb,  a  Magyar  from  an  Albanian, 
or  a  Greek  from  a  Jew,  but  whatever  their  ancestry 
or  religion  may  be— Slav,  Semite,  Moslem,  Egyptian, 
Greek,  Slavonian,  Latin,  Swiss,  Saxon,  Teuton,  Frank, 
Magyar,  Turk,  Russian,  Swede,  Spaniard,  Moor  or 
Nubian— they  live  in  peace  and  harmony,  each  recog- 
nizing the  scruples  of  the  other  concerning  the  creed 
and  the  customs  of  his  faith,  and  under  the  firm  and 
kindly  rule  of  the  Austrians  they  dwell  together  in 
unity.  Many  of  the  women  also  adhere  to  their  native 
costumes,  except  the  wives  and  daughters  of  the  middle 


28o    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

class.  When  you  see  a  veiled  woman  you  may  know 
that  she  is  a  Moslem,  but  those  who  wear  their  faces 
uncovered  are  either  Christians  or  Jews. 

Austrian  officers  in  uniform  seem  to  be  numerous 
and  popular,  and  all  classes  of  the  people  are  grateful 
for  their  deliverance  from  the  unspeakable  Turk. 
The  fathers  and  mothers  still  find  it  difficult  to  over- 
come their  suspicions  and  distrust  of  their  rulers, 
which  have  been  bred  into  their  bones  through  long 
centuries  of  deception,  cruelty  and  corruption. 

The  capital  of  Bosnia  occupies  a  sightly  place  in  a 
wide  valley  surrounded  by  picturesque  mountains,  and 
is  divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts  by  the  Miljacka, 
a  rapid,  foaming  stream  which  tumbles  over  a  rocky 
bed.  Nine  or  ten  artistic  bridges,  some  of  them 
incrusted  with  the  lichens  of  centuries,  are  approached 
by  wide,  well-shaded  streets  which  slope  up  the  moun- 
tain sides  with  a  comfortable  grade  and  give  excellent 
drainage.  Observed  from  the  distant  hills,  Sarajevo 
looks  as  if  it  were  built  in  terraces,  and  the  trees  in 
the  streets  make  parallel  lines  of  green  alternating 
with  lines  of  red,  which  are  the  roofs  of  the  houses. 
In  many  places  are  luxuriant  gardens  reached  through 
wide  archways  under  the  houses  in  the  oriental  style, 
but  they  are  generally  secluded.  There  is  an  abun- 
dance of  pure  water  supplied  from  the  mountains  for 
domestic  purposes  and  for  the  many  fountains  which 
decorate  the  \ntQ.x\ox  patios  of  the  houses  and  gardens. 
While  the  residential  portion  of  the  town  is  irregular 
and  only  partially  built  up,  Sarajevo  compares  well  in 
architecture  and  in  every  other  respect  with  any  city 
of  its  size  in  Europe  or  America,  and  some  time  will 
be  a  beautiful  place,  for  it  is  much  favored  by  nature, 
and  the  inhabitants  are  rapidly  accumulating  wealth. 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  281 

Sarajevo  has  been  frequently  compared  with  Jerusa- 
lem and  Damascus.  It  is  often  called  "the  Damascus 
of  the  North,"  and  perhaps  the  old  part  may  bear 
some  resemblance  to  those  venerable  cities,  but  the 
new  part  is  more  like  a  German  or  an  Italian  town. 
There  are  several  mosques  with  minarets  and  domes 
and  spires.  Churches  of  every  religion,  fine  office- 
buildings,  apartment-houses,  government  buildings 
and  public  institutions.  The  Rathaiis,  or  city  hall,  is  a 
beautiful  modern  structure  of  the  oriental  school  of 
architecture,  and  might  have  been  transplanted  from 
Constantinople  or  Algiers,  while  the  ScheriatscJmle,  a 
law  college,  is  also  imposing.  The  citadel  or  castle, 
which  formerly  was  the  residence  of  the  Turkish  gov- 
ernor, is  an  irregular  inclosure  defended  by  a  high  wall 
with  a  collection  of  buildings  representing  several  ages 
and  schools  of  architecture.  It  is  now  garrisoned  by 
a  battalion  of  Austrian  troops,  whose  gay  uniforms 
delight  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

In  Budapest  I  saw  a  regiment  of  troops  from  Bosnia 
parading  the  streets.  They  were  fine-looking  young 
fellows,  full  of  military  ardor,  and  seemed  to  take 
great  pride  in  their  appearance.  I  was  told  that  there 
are  7,000  Bosnian  soldiers  in  Austria  and  Hungary, 
and  an  equal  number  of  Austrian  soldiers  in  Bosnia, 
which,  by  the  way,  is  a  very  good  scheme,  if  you  will 
stop  to  think  of  the  effect.  According  to  law  every 
able-bodied  man  in  Bosnia,  upon  reaching  the  age  of 
eighteen,  is  required  to  enter  the  army  for  a  period 
of  five  years,  two  years  being  spent  in  active  service 
and  three  years  as  a  member  of  the  reserve.  Those 
in  active  service  are  sent  to  Austria  and  Hungary, 
where  they  learn  something  of  life  and  civilization, 
become  familiar  with  the  German  language  and  the 


282     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

customs  and  habits  of  the  people,  and  make  many 
friends,  often  marrying  Austrian  girls  and  taking  them 
back  to  Bosnia.  The  government  encourages  such 
marriages,  and  offers  tempting  inducements  in  the 
way  of  relief  from  certain  duty  and  additional  pay. 
Married  soldiers  are  allowed  to  live  in  barracks  with 
their  wives,  who  are  employed  as  cooks,  laundresses 
and  in  other  capacities.  Thus,  after  a  term  of  two  years 
spent  in  the  army  in  Austria,  the  young  Bosnian  goes 
home  thoroughly  naturalized  and  imbued  with  Austrian 
ideas,  while  those  who  take  wives  with  them  have  an 
even  greater  attachment  to  the  empire.  Thus  the 
scheme  works  well.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Austrian 
soldiers  who  are  stationed  in  Bosnia  make  friends 
with  the  people,  and  often  marry  and  settle  down 
there.  They  are  encouraged  to  do  so  by  the  gov- 
ernment's offering  inducements  similar  to  those  I  have 
described. 

Police  duty  is  performed  by  a  force  of  about  2,500 
gendarmes,  selected  from  the  best  material  in  the 
Bosnian  and  Austrian  reserves.  They  are  well  paid 
and  pensioned,  and  the  pay  and  privileges  are 
sufficient  to  secure  men  of  education,  judgment  and 
good  habits.  This  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  suc- 
cess of  Austrian  government  in  Bosnia,  because  the 
experience  of  the  people  with  the  Turkish  soldiers  was 
so  terrible  that  a  military  uniform  is  still  hateful  to 
them.  The  Bosnian  police  are  divided  in  squads  of 
eight  or  ten  men  under  the  command  of  a  sergeant, 
and  are  scattered  throughout  the  country  in  every 
community.  They  are  called  upon  to  perform  unusual 
duties.  They  not  only  patrol  their  districts  to  keep 
the  peace,  investigate  complaints,  make  arrests  and 
do  ordinary  police  duty,    but  also  serve   as  sanitary 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  283 

officers,  veterinarians,  legal  advisers  and  instructors  in 
agriculture  and  the  industrial  arts.  They  are,  in  fact, 
fathers  to  the  people,  or  as  one  of  them  described  it, 
"maids  of  all  work."  The  idea  is  to  furnish  the 
people  advisers  in  all  occupations  and  stations  in  life, 
who  carry  the  authority  and  the  protection  of  the 
government  with  them  and  bring  it  not  only  into  the 
households,  but  into  the  stables  and  the  gardens  of  the 
entire  population. 

Thus  a  peasant  when  he  is  out  of  work  applies  to  the 
policeman,  who  knows  everybody  and  everything  in 
the  district,  and  can  generally  find  him  a  job.  When 
an  old  woman  wants  seed  to  plant  in  her  garden,  the 
policeman  sends  to  the  agricultural  department  for  a 
supply.  When  he  hears  that  anyone  is  sick  he  fetches 
medicine  from  the  police  dispensary;  when  an  acci- 
dent occurs  he  exercises  his  ingenuity  to  aid  in  mak- 
ing repairs;  when  a  cow  or  a  horse  has  the  distemper 
he  gives  advice  to  the  owner  and  instructs  him  how  to 
administer  the  proper  remedy.  When  a  cabin  is  to  be 
built  or  a  marriage  performed  or  a  funeral  is  held  on 
his  beat,  he  is  the  master  of  ceremonies,  no  matter 
whether  the  persons  involved  are  Turks,  Roman  Cath- 
olics, Protestants  or  members  of  the  Greek  Church. 
In  this  way  the  policemen  become  identified  with  the 
interests  of  the  people,  and  obtain  their  confidence. 
And  this  form  of  paternalism  has  been  very  effective 
in  winning  the  Bosnians  to  the  support  of  the  Austrian 
authorities.  The  contrast  with  the  conduct  of  the 
Turkish  soldiers  in  the  past  is  so  radical  that  the  sys- 
tem is  all  the  more  effective  in  accomplishing  its  pur- 
pose; for,  in  Turkish  times,  the  man  most  feared  by 
the  community  was  the  policeman,  for  he  was  always 
a  robber  and  often  a  fiend. 


284     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

In  order  to  avoid  scandals  and  protect  the  police 
from  temptation  each  gendarme  is  accompanied  at  all 
times  by  a  deputy  or  assistant  who  is  both  a  student 
studying  the  business  with  the  expectation  of  promo- 
tion to  the  first  place,  when  his  turn  comes,  and  a 
check  or  restraint  upon  his  superior,  who,  by  the 
wholesome  regulations,  is  required  to  teach  him  and 
set  him  a  good  example.  There  have  been  cases 
where  dishonest  and  vicious  men  obtain  positions  in 
the  police  corps  and  oppress  people,  but  the  penalty 
for  malfeasance  is  very  heavy,  and  whenever  a  case 
occurs  it  is  utilized  as  an  opportunity  to  furnish  an 
example.  The  testimony  is  almost  unanimous  that 
the  Bosnian  gendarmes  are  a  model  force;  that  they 
have  acquired  the  respect  and  the  confidence  of  the 
people,  and  that  to  this  system  is  largely  due  the 
remarkable  success  of  the  Austrian  administration  in 
Bosnia. 

The  old  part  of  Sarajevo,  called  Carsija,  consists  of 
crooked  and  narrow  streets  running  at  right  angles 
with  shops  and  bazaars  opening  upon  the  sidewalks  as 
is  customary  in  all  oriental  towns.  The  merchants 
and  mechanics  squat  on  their  haunches  or  sit  cross- 
legged  as  they  make  and  sell  their  wares.  Although 
nearly  everything  is  oriental  in  appearance,  and  sold 
as  souvenirs  of  the  country  to  tourists,  the  greater  part 
of  the  gay  colored  silks  and  cottons  were  woven  in  the 
factories  of  Germany  and  France;  the  gold  and  silver 
embroideries  in  arabesque  designs  were  imported 
from  Austria,  and  much  of  the  jewelry,  the  ornamental 
pipes  and  velvet  slippers,  from  Paris.  The  only  goods 
that  can  be  depended  upon  as  of  native  workmanship 
are  those  that  are  manufactured  before  your  eyes. 
The  busy  artisans  keep  at  it  from  daybreak  till  bed- 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  285 

time,  seldom  knocking  off  except  to  say  their  prayers 
at  tiie  nearest  mosque  or  drink  a  cup  of  coffee  and 
smoke  a  cigarette  at  the  nearest  cafe.  That  is  the 
Bosnian  idea  of  rest  and  pleasure.  He  will  smoke 
and  drink  coffee  all  day  long  if  he  has  the  lei- 
sure to  do  so.  They  tell  of  men  whose  daily  allow- 
ance is  a  hundred  cups  of  coffee  and  a  hundred 
cigarettes. 

Contrary  to  the  French  and  Italian  habit  the  Bos- 
nians never  urge  people  to  purchase  their  goods. 
They  manifest  no  eagerness,  but  offer  them  with  dig- 
nified courtesy  and  apparent  indifference.  They 
never  raise  their  voices  or  gesticulate,  but  imitate  their 
Turkish  neighbors,  who  are  trained  from  the  cradle  to 
observe  the  command  of  the  prophet  who  said:  "Be 
moderate  in  thy  pace  and  lower  thy  voice."  Nor  do 
you  ever  see  a  Mohammedan  beggar.  He  never  com- 
plains. One  of  the  most  admirable  characteristics  of 
the  race  is  the  composure  with  which  disappointment 
and  misfortune  are  accepted.  "If  you  have  food,  eat," 
is  his  doctrine.  "If  you  have  no  food,  die."  In  his 
shop  as  well  as  in  his  place  of  worship,  the  Moham- 
medan practices  his  religion  and  preserves  the  same 
proud  and  uncomplaining  calm. 

The  different  trades  are  governed  by  guilds  as  was 
formerly  the  rule  throughout  Europe.  Each  guild  has 
a  patron  saint  and  a  long  list  of  officers,  who  fix  prices 
and  profits,  regulate  wages,  appoint  apprentices  and 
decide  disputes.  The  trades  are  classified  and  each 
has  its  particular  locality.  Competitors  seem  to  be 
upon  the  most  friendly  terms. 

In  the  center  of  the  old  city  is  a  common  meeting- 
place — a  coffee-house  in  the  oriental  style  called  the 
Kiraet-han — a  resort  for  the  better  class  of  merchants 


286    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

and  artisans,  where  types  of  all  races  may  be  found. 
Near  by  is  the  beautiful  Begova  Djamia,  the  largest 
and  the  finest  mosque  in  Europe  with  the  exception  of 
St.  Sofia  in  Constantinople  and  Selim's  in  Adrianople. 
In  the  courtyard  is  the  inevitable  fountain,  in  which 
the  worshipers  wash  their  hands  before  performing 
their  religious  duties,  for  cleanliness  is  not  only  next 
to  godliness  in  the  Mohammedan  creed,  but  was 
declared  by  the  prophet  to  be  "the  key  of  prayer." 
In  this  courtyard  is  the  official  measuring  stone, 
exactly  the  Turkish  equivalent  for  a  yard  in  length, 
and  whenever  there  is  a  dispute  or  discussion  as  to  the 
accuracy  of  a  merchant's  measurement  he  is  compelled 
to  subject  it  to  the  test. 

Many  injunctions  from  the  prophet  make  it  difficult 
for  a  conscientious  Moslem  to  compete  with  the 
Greeks,  Jews,  Italians  and  Austrians,  who  are  his 
rivals  there.  His  religious  observances  take  up  much 
valuable  time.  He  goes  to  worship  five  times  a  day 
whenever  the  Hodja  calls  to  prayer.  So  many  times 
must  he  lay  his  forehead  to  the  ground,  repeating  so 
many  verses  from  the  Koran;  so  many  times  must  he 
rise  to  a  sitting  posture  with  his  hands  upon  his  knees, 
and  with  eyes  closed  repeat  the  gospel  of  his  religion; 
and  so  many  times  must  he  arise  and  recite  so  many 
prayers.  Not  one  prayer  or  position  must  be  omitted 
or  neglected.  As  a  rule  the  Mohammedans  are  much 
more  regular  and  devout  in  the  observance  of  their 
spiritual  duties  than  the  members  of  the  Christian 
churches,  and  no  race  is  so  faithful  to  the  teachings  of 
its  religion.  They  told  me  there,  as  I  have  often  heard 
elsewhere,  that  no  matter  how  cruel,  bloodthirsty  or 
treacherous  a  Turk  may  be,  he  will  not  lie  or  cheat. 
I  have  been  frequently  advised  that  I  can  always  trust 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  287 

a  Moslem  to  give  me  real  value  for  my  money,  and 
depend  upon  his  word  as  to  the  article  he  sells  me,  but 
when  I  deal  with  a  Christian  or  a  Jew  I  must  look  out 
for  myself.  That,  however,  is  a  myth,  to  entertain 
strangers. 

Strangers  find  great  difficulty  in  distinguishing 
between  the  Christians  and  the  Turks  in  Bosnia,  for 
both  wear  turbans,  embroidered  waistcoats,  loose  open 
jackets,  zouave  trousers  gathered  at  the  knee,  and 
heelless  shoes  with  toes  that  turn  up  like  the  arms  of 
a  crescent,  the  same  that  you  see  in  the  windows  of 
shops  that  sell  Turkish  goods  at  home.  The  ordinary 
European  costume  is  being  adopted  rapidly  by  those 
who  wish  to  be  considered  up-to-date.  The  rich 
families  of  the  middle  class  buy  all  their  clothing  at 
Vienna  or  Budapest,  and  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish 
them  from  the  Austrians.  Nevertheless  there  are  little 
signs  by  which  those  familiar  with  the  country  can 
always  tell  whether  a  man  he  meets  upon  the  street  is 
a  Mohammedan  or  a  Christian.  The  peasants  adhere 
most  tenaciously  to  the  ancient  customs,  and  by  going 
into  the  country  one  can  get  a  much  better  idea  of 
what  Bosnia  used  to  be  than  in  the  cities,  although 
the  latter  are  still  picturesque  and  interesting.  In 
Turkish  times  Christians  were  compelled  to  wear  a 
certain  costume  of  dark  colors  to  denote  their  servile 
condition,  and  it  was  as  much  as  life  was  worth  for 
anyone  to  wear  green,  the  color  of  the  prophet.  The 
Turks  considered  it  sacrilege,  and  the  penalty  for 
violating  this  unwritten  lav/  was  so  terrible  that  it  was 
seldom  broken.  Now,  however,  any  man  or  woman, 
Christian,  Jew  or  Turk,  is  allowed  to  wear  whatever 
pleases  the  taste  and  fancy,  and  you  see  mixed  cos- 
tumes as  often  as  any,  the  fez,  which  was  formerly  the 


288     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

distinguishing    badge    of    the    Mohammedans,   being 
frequently  worn  by  Christians  and  Jews. 

A  similar  change  has  been  going  on  among  the 
women.  Formerly  they  were  restricted  to  the  harems, 
as  in  Turkey,  but  now  they  may  be  seen  in  the  streets 
and  bazaars  and  even  in  the  fields,  where,  before  the 
Austrian  occupation,  it  was  impossible  for  them  to 
appear,  because  of  the  danger  of  insult  from  any  pass- 
ing Turk.  They  never  ventured  far  from  their  homes 
and  the  protection  of  their  husbands  and  neighbors. 
It  has  never  been  customary  for  Turkish  women  to 
work  in  the  fields  like  the  Germans  and  Austrians; 
but  this  is  all  changed,  and  throughout  Bosnia  these 
days  their  bright  costumes  illuminate  the  landscape  in 
every  direction.  They  work  side  by  side  with  men,  as 
in  Hungary.  Nowadays,  also,  many  Mohammedan 
husbands  in  Bosnia  allow  their  wives  and  daughters  to 
be  treated  by  Christian  doctors  when  they  are  ill,  not- 
withstanding the  superstition  that  it  is  contrary  to  the 
will  of  Allah.  Enlightened  Mohammedans  who  have 
observed  the  advantages  of  the  social,  agricultural  and 
administrative  reforms  introduced  into  Bosnia  and 
have  reflected  thoughtfully  upon  them  are  gradually 
yielding  to  their  better  judgment,  and,  while  they  will 
never  yield  in  their  attachment  to  the  old  faith,  are 
adopting  the  customs  and  habits  of  the  western  world. 
The  lives  of  women  are  thus  becoming  enlarged. 
They  are  being  released  from  the  degraded  position 
which  they  occupy  in  all  Mohammedan  countries. 
The  popular  impression  that  the  Mohammedan  relig- 
ion denies  souls  and  immortality  to  women  is  a  fallacy. 
The  Koran  teaches  the  reverse,  and  admits  them  to  the 
hope  of  Paradise;  and  it  is  custom  rather  than  a  relig- 
ious   injunction    that    prohibits    them    from    entering 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  289 

mosques  at  the  same  time  with  men.  Certain  hours 
are  allotted  women  for  prayer  in  most  of  the  mosques, 
but  some  of  them  they  are  not  allowed  to  enter. 

The  Turk  is  not  altogether  terrible.  He  has  many 
admirable  traits.  There  is  much  to  be  admired  in  his 
religion  and  in  the  spirit  with  which  he  observes  the 
injunctions  of  the  prophet.  The  Mohammedans  are 
a  curious  contradiction.  Although  it  is  asserted  that 
ninety  out  of  every  one  hundred  cases  in  the  Turkish 
courts  are  settled  by  bribery,  and  the  official  class  is 
absolutely  untrustworthy,  yet  I  am  informed  by  those 
who  have  had  long  experience  that  the  word  and  still 
more  the  oath  of  a  Mohammedan  may  be  accepted 
implicitly  wherever  it  affects  members  of  his  own 
faith.  Their  religion  teaches  that  those  who  are  guilty 
of  falsehood  shall  have  no  part  in  the  next  life.  In 
Egypt  and  in  other  countries  the  rule  is  the  same  as  in 
Bosnia,  that  when  a  suit  is  being  tried  between  two 
Moslems,  the  defendant,  if  he  has  justice  on  his  side, 
will  insist  that  the  plaintiff  be  compelled  to  testify, 
feeling  confident  that  he  will  tell  the  exact  truth,  if 
properly  questioned,  and  admit  that  he  is  wrong. 
Thus  it  is  not  because  of  religion,  but  in  spite  of  it, 
that  corruption  is  universal  wherever  the  Turks  control. 

In  Bosnia  the  Austrians  have  separate  courts  for 
Turkish  cases,  because  it  is  not  perjury  for  a  Moham- 
medan to  swear  falsely  against  a  Christian.  A  differ- 
ent rule  and  practice  is  required  in  the  administration 
of  justice  where  representatives  of  both  religions  are 
involved.  They  also  have  courts  there  for  the  settle- 
ment of  trifling  differences,  in  which  lawyers  are  not 
allowed  to  appear,  because  that  honorable  profession 
is  accused  of  encouraging  litigation  for  the  sake  of 
making  fees.      Before  the   Austrian   occupation   this 


290    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

was  a  great  evil.  Almost  the  entire  population  were 
involved  one  way  or  another  in  lawsuits.  If  a  man 
was  dissatisfied  in  any  way  with  the  conduct  of  his 
neighbor  he  would  drag  him  into  the  courts.  About 
twenty  years  ago  the  Austrians  decided  to  put  an  end 
to  this  litigation,  and  a  law  was  enacted  limiting  the 
number  of  lawyers  to  sixteen  for  the  entire  country. 
No  one  can  be  admitted  to  practice  unless  there  is  a 
vacancy. 

The  tenure  of  land  was  one  of  the  most  difficult 
questions  to  deal  with,  because,   under  Turkish  rule, 
the  larger  part  of  the  cultivated  area  belonged  to  the 
government  or  the  ecclesiastics,  who  were  oppressive 
and  extortionate  in  their  treatment  of  their  tenants. 
Gradually  these  conditions  have  been  reformed,  and, 
although  agriculture  is  still  in  a  low  state  of  develop- 
ment, the  farmers  are  secure  in  the  possession  of  their 
lands  and  are  thus  encouraged  to  improve  and  cultivate 
them  with  care.     Eighty-eight  per  cent  of  the  popu- 
lation are  engaged  in  farming  and  raising  cattle,  sheep 
and  swine.     Tobacco  is  a  very  important  crop,  and  a 
government   monopoly.       It   may  be    raised   by   any 
farmer  under  the  supervision  of  the  revenue  inspectors, 
who  not  only  measure  the  acreage  planted,  but  even 
count   the    number   of   plants   in    order   that    sales  to 
private  individuals  may  be  detected.     A  considerable 
proportion  of  the  crop  is  exported— nearly  2,000  tons 
in  1901 — but    the    greater  part  is  manufactured    into 
cigarettes    in    government  factories,   which   not  only 
bring  in  a  handsome  revenue,  but  furnish  employment 
for  nearly  four  thousand  women  and  girls. 

The  cattle  industry  is  next  in  importance,  there 
being  an  average  of  one  steer,  one  goat,  one  hog  and 
three  sheep  per  capita  of  the  population.     The  hides 


AN    EXAMPLE.  OF  ADMINISTRATION  291 

are  tanned  at  home  and  shipped  to  Great  Britain, 
France  and  Austria.  They  are  of  the  highest  grade 
and  bring  the  best  prices.  The  next  important  indus- 
try is  dried  prunes,  the  exports  in  1901  amounting  to 
more  than  Si,  500,000. 

Beet  sugar  is  now  being  manufactured  by  the  gov- 
ernment, and  silk  culture  is  also  being  introduced. 
The  government  gives  assistance  to  the  agricultural 
population  in  many  important  ways — by  the  estab- 
lishment ot  schools  of  instruction,  by  the  introduction 
of  new  ideas,  by  furnishing  seeds  and  sample  imple- 
ments and  by  other  methods.  There  are  several  excel- 
lent schools  of  agriculture  situated  at  convenient 
locations,  where  the  country  people  may  send  their 
sons  to  study  the  practical  cultivation  of  the  soil,  and 
their  daughters  to  learn  how  to  make  butter  and 
cheese,  cultivate  silk  worms  and  raise  poultry  and 
other  by-products  which  materially  increase  the  family 
income.  Experts  have  been  brought  from  Italy  to 
instruct  the  natives  in  the  cultivation  of  silk  worms,  as 
the  climate  and  other  conditions  appear  to  be  unusu- 
ally favorable  for  that  industry. 

The  government  has  also  taken  great  pains  to 
improve  the  breeds  of  horses,  cattle  and  sheep  and  to 
induce  the  peasants  to  take  proper  care  of  their  stock. 
It  has  established  farms  and  studs  at  convenient  loca- 
tions and  holds  cattle  and  horse  shows  at  the  provincial 
capitals  every  year,  at  which  considerable  sums  are 
given  as  prizes  to  stimulate  competition.  There  are  at 
least  a  dozen  poultry  farms  belonging  to  the  govern- 
ment, where  a  large  variety  of  game  birds  and  domestic 
fowls  are  kept.  Eggs  of  the  best  breeds  of  poultry, 
ducks,  geese  and  turkeys  are  furnished  free  to  farm- 
ers who  will  agree  to  observe  the    printed  rules  for 


292     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

hatching  them,  and  so  successful  has  this  policy  been 
that  poultry  is  now  plenty  throughout  the  entire  pro\'- 
ince.  An  ordinary  chicken  can  be  bought  in  the  mar- 
ket for  ten  or  fifteen  cents  and  a  goose  or  a  turkey  for 
twenty-five  cents.  The  turkey  is  so  common  that  we 
might  properly  call  it  the  national  bird. 

Not  only  in  agriculture  but  in  the  other  industries 
has  the  paternal  policy  of  the  government  brought 
happiness  and  prosperity  to  the  people.  It  has  estab- 
lished factories  and  training-schools  in  all  the  prin- 
cipal towns  in  order  to  produce  artisans  and  mechanics, 
who  are  very  scarce  in  that  country.  Students  are 
educated  in  the  simpler  sciences,  such  as  electricity, 
chemistry,  mechanics,  engineering,  architecture  and 
house-building,  designing,  the  construction,  repair  and 
operation  of  machinery,  carpentering,  masonry,  stone- 
cutting,  molding,  iron-working  and  the  other  useful 
trades.  It  will  not  be  the  fault  of  the  officials  if  the 
next  generation  of  Bosnians  is  not  thoroughly  skilled 
in  the  useful  arts  and  trades. 

A  woolen  mill  and  a  carpet  factory  have  recently 
been  established  under  government  supervision.  The 
former  produces  fabrics  for  ordinary  clothing  of  a  low 
grade,  similar  to  the  homespun  generally  used  by  the 
people.  The  carpet  factory  buys  the  raw  wool  from 
the  farmers  and  turns  it  into  Turkish  rugs,  which  are 
shipped  to  Austria  and  Hungary,  and  are  sold  at  good 
prices.  In  connection  with  the  factory  is  a  training 
school  for  spinners  and  weavers,  a  school  of  design  to 
develop  the  artistic  talent  of  young  men  and  women, 
and  a  laboratory  for  the  manufacture  of  dyes. 

All  this  is  done  under  official  supervision  with  cap- 
ital from  the  public  treasury,  and  the  proceeds  add 
considerably  to  the  public  revenues,  although  that  is 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION 


293 


not  the  object  aimed  at.  Under  Turkish  rule  the 
Bosnians  lived  from  hand  to  mouth.  They  were  pre- 
vented from  accumulating  v^ealth  or  acquiring  homes 
or  providing  themselves  with  comforts  by  the  rapacity 
of  their  rulers,  and  hence  there  was  no  incentive  for 
them  to  labor  or  save  or  to  improve  their  condition. 
They  even  hid  their  houses  as  far  as  possible  behind 
clumps  of  trees  or  in  the  valleys  some  distance  away 
from  the  road,  hoping  that  they  might  escape  the 
observation  of  Turkish  officials  and  soldiers.  Now 
there  is  no  longer  any  danger,  and  they  are  building 
comfortable  cabins  and  surrounding  them  with  stables 
and  pens  for  their  poultry  and  live  stock.  It  is  now 
safe  for  women  to  live  or  to  travel  alone  in  any  part  of 
Bosnia,  whereas  a  few  years  ago  they  dared  not 
show  themselves  in  the  fields  or  on  the  public  high- 
way. More  than  200,000  people  fled  from  Bosnia  dur- 
ing the  ten  years  preceding  the  Russo-Turkish  war  to 
escape  the  cruelties  and  extortions  of  the  Turks. 
They  took  with  them  only  what  they  could  carry  on 
their  backs,  and,  leading  their  little  children  by  the 
hand,  abandoned  their  homes  and  harvests  and  crept 
through  the  thickets  and  the  forests  of  the  mountains 
until  they  reached  the  Austrian  boundary,  where  they 
could  live  in  safety  and  were  protected,  not  from  their 
enemies,  but  from  the  officials  that  were  appointed  to 
rule  over  them. 

The  cruelties  committed  by  the  Turks  in  their 
efforts  to  keep  the  people  in  subjection  are  inde- 
scribable. Centuries  of  horrors  compose  the  history 
of  the  Bosnian  people,  and,  although  almost  incred- 
ible, it  is  officially  asserted  by  the  British  consul  that 
from  8,000  to  10,000  people  were  annually  murdered 
by  the  officials  and  military  guards.     The  same  condi- 


294     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

tlons  prevailed  in  Bulgaria.  They  prevail  in  Mace- 
donia or  Eastern  Rumelia  to-day,  and  will  continue  so 
long  as  the  Powers  of  Europe  permit  the  Turks  to 
govern  that  country. 

The  Scheriatschule  is  a  peculiar  local  institution,  in 
which  is  taught  Moslem,  Christian  and  Jewish  law. 
In  fact,  the  instruction  covers  the  laws  of  all  races  and 
religions  which  is  necessary  to  that  mixed  population, 
where  the  government  endeavors  to  respect  the  religious 
scruples  of  every  citizen  and  to  adjust  its  requirements 
to  the  ordinances  of  the  different  churches.  The 
Austrian  statesmen  who  were  required  to  solve  the 
Bosnian  problem  recognized  the  importance  of  a  fact 
which  many  rulers  in  all  parts  of  the  world  and  in  all 
times  have  forgotten  or  overlooked  —  that  religious 
sentiment  and  conscience  lie  deeper  than  any  other 
influences  that  affect  human  action.  Hence,  in  Bosnia, 
each  individual  is  not  only  allowed  to  worship  in  his 
own  way,  but  is  excused  from  the  observance  of  laws 
which  conflict  with  his  religious  duties.  For  that  reason 
different  courts  are  provided  for  the  trial  of  differ- 
ent races.  Speaking  generally,  the  laws  of  Turkey  still 
prevail  in  Bosnia,  because  that  country  is  nominally  a 
Turkish  province  still,  although  it  never  again  will 
come  under  Turkish  power.  There  is  much  that  is 
good  in  the  Turkish  statutes,  and  when  honestly  admin- 
istered they  are  peculiarly  suitable  for  the  government 
of  that  race.  It  has  been  necessary,  however,  to  sup- 
plement them  with  local  statutes,  which  are  enacted  by 
an  assembly  chosen  by  the  tax-payers  of  the  country. 
This  legislature  also  assesses  taxes  and  makes  appro- 
priations for  public  purposes  to  be  disbursed  by  the 
executives. 

To    instruct    and    qualify   natives    for   the   bar,   the 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  295 

bench,  the  legislature  and  positions  in  the  executive 
department  of  the  government,  the  Scheriatschule  vi^as 
established,  and  it  now  has  about  200  pupils  who  pay  a 
small  entrance  fee  and  a  moderate  price  for  their 
rooms  and  board.  It  occupies  a  large  rectangular 
building  of  the  oriental  style,  built  of  horizontal  rows 
of  black  and  white  stone  that  suggest  a  prison  garb. 
It  is  approached  by  broad  stone  stairs  with  parterres 
of  flowers  on  either  side,  and  the  entrance  is  a  lofty 
arch  which  leads  mto  a  central  court  decorated  with  a 
fountain  and  flowers.  Upon  this  court  open  lecture- 
rooms,  libraries  and  recitation-rooms,  a  dormitory,  a 
refectory  and  a  chapel,  well  constructed  and  fitted  up 
with  modern  conveniences.  Great  care  has  been  taken 
by  the  Austrians  to  make  the  Bosnian  schools  models. 
There  is  a  fine  national  museum.  Bosnia  is  unusu- 
ally rich  in  ethnology,  and  practically  an  unexplored 
field  for  ethnographic  research.  An  international 
congress  of  archeologists  and  ethnologists  met  here 
several  years  ago,  and  the  members  were  handsomely 
entertained  by  the  government  with  the  hope  of 
stimulating  scientific  interest.  Its  reports  attracted 
considerable  attention,  but  I  cannot  learn  that  the 
United  States  was  represented.  Prehistoric  remains 
are  numerous  and  have  been  practically  undisturbed 
except  by  the  ignorant  populace,  who  have  searched 
some  of  them  for  treasure  and  dismantled  others  for 
building  material.  The  country  has  seen  successive 
civilizations  from  century  to  century,  and  at  several 
periods  reached  a  high  degree  of  culture  under  the 
Romans  and  the  Greeks,  which  in  turn  were  engulfed 
or  destroyed  by  barbaric  invasions  only  to  spring  up 
again  in  another  form.  Its  art  and  architecture  are 
largely  buried  under  the  soil  and  are  represented  by 


296      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

ruins  in  the  valleys  of  the  mountains.  In  addition  to 
Roman  and  Greek  remains  there  are  traces  of  Ger- 
manic, Gothic,  Saracenic  and  Turkish  occupations; 
but  the  field,  as  I  have  said,  is  practically  unexplored 
and  should  tempt  the  learned  societies  to  undertake 
systematic  investigations  such  as  have  been  carried  on 
in  Greece. 

There  are  good  hotels  in  every  part  of  the  province, 
most  of  them  having  been  established  by  the  govern- 
ment either  directly  or  indirectly  by  the  payment  of 
subsidies,  as  an  inducement  to  travelers,  and  they 
have  proved  to  be  valuable  investments.  The  policy 
pursued  here  has  been  very  different  from  that  adopted 
by  the  United  States  Congress  in  our  new  possessions. 
We  passed  a  law  forbidding  the  introduction  of  new 
capital  and  the  organization  of  new  enterprises  to 
develop  the  industry  and  material  resources  of  Cuba, 
Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippine  Islands,  because  our 
legislators  were  afraid  that  somebody  would  derive  a 
profit  from  the  application  of  money,  energy  or  brains. 
The  granting  of  franchises  was  forbidden.  Austria 
has  taken  the  opposite  course  in  Bosnia,  and  not  only 
invited  capital  and  enterprise,  but  erected  hotels  in 
order  to  entertain  their  representatives  in  a  comfort- 
able manner  and  give  them  pleasant  impressions  of  the 
country. 

When  the  Austrians  first  assumed  control  everything 
in  Bosnia  was  extremely  primitive  and  old-fashioned. 
There  were  no  conveniences  nor  comforts;  no  modern 
improvements  whatever;  but  filth,  disorder  and  dis- 
comfort prevailed  everywhere,  so  much  so  that  decent 
people  avoided  Bosnia.  The  description  which 
Francis  Bacon  applied  to  Turkey  centuries  ago  was 
true  of  Bosnia  in   1876:     "Without   morality,  without 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION 


297 


letters,  arts  or  sciences;  a  people  that  can  scarce 
measure  an  acre  of  land  or  an  hour  of  the  day;  base 
and  sluttish  in  building,  diet  and  the  like;  and,  in  a 
word,  a  very  reproach  to  human  society;  and  yet  this 
nation  hath  made  the  garden  of  the  world  a  wilder- 
ness, for  it  is  truly  said  concerning  the  Turk — where 
the  Ottoman's  horse  sets  his  foot  people  will  come  up 
very  thin." 

The  Austrians  devised  every  means  to  induce  immi- 
gration and  capital,  to  encourage  commerce  and  indus- 
try, and  they  decided  to  make  the  country  attractive 
to  strangers  and  tourists,  who  would  advertise  it.  It 
is  now  pleasant  to  visit  Bosnia.  The  hotels  have  not 
only  proved  an  attraction,  but  a  source  of  profit. 
Amusements  and  pleasures  of  all  kinds  were  intro- 
duced for  the  entertainment  of  the  people,  who,  under 
Turkish  rule,  had  been  deprived  of  everything  of  that 
sort.  The  diversions  have  been  gratefully  appre- 
ciated— theaters,  operas,  parks,  museums,  gardens, 
cafes,  military  bands,  parades,  ceremonials — by  a 
people  whose  natural  love  of  music  and  motion  is 
very  strong.  They  also  have  proved  remarkably 
important  in  diverting  their  minds  from  politics  and 
opening  to  them  a  new  world.  This  is  another  hint  to 
the  administration  of  affairs  in  the  Philippines,  where 
the  people  have  similar  tastes  and  the  conditions  are 
very  much  like  those  that  existed  in  Bosnia  twenty- 
five  years  ago. 

The  ofificial  residence  of  the  Austrian  governor-gen- 
eral is  a  pleasant  structure  surrounded  by  rich  gardens 
and  shrubbery,  and  is  called  the  Konek.  It  was  built 
half  a  century  ago  for  the  use  of  the  Turkish  pasha, 
who  was  a  man  of  luxury  and  taste,  and  had  unlimited 
command  of  money.     In  many  places  are  other  evi- 


298     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

dences  of  official  and  private  extravagance,  and  the 
people  were  taxed  to  pay  for  it. 

The  Roman  Catholic  church  is  a  fine  Gothic  struc- 
ture, with  two  handsome  spires.  It  was  built  by  the 
government  with  contributions  from  the  Catholics  of 
Vienna  and  other  Austrian  cities.  The  orthodox 
Greek  church  is  also  imposing,  and  most  of  the 
wealthy  men  are  members  of  that  faith.  The  Jewish 
synagogue  is  also  a  notable  building.  There  is  no 
Protestant  church. 

Under  Turkish  rule  all  public  worship  except  that  of 
the  Moslems  was  forbidden,  but  the  Christians  were 
allowed  to  say  their  prayers  in  secret.  They  were 
known  asrayahs^ — the  word  means  "ransomed" — those 
who  have  merited  death  because  of  unbelief,  but  have 
purchased  permission  to  live  by  paying  tribute. 
Western  Christians  do  not  appreciate  the  religious 
heroism  which  the  poor  peasants,  not  of  Bosnia  only, 
but  of  Bulgaria,  Macedonia  and  other  parts  of  the 
Balkans,  have  displayed  during  all  the  centuries  that 
they  have  suffered  from  the  persecution  of  the  Turks. 
They  have  lived  in  daily  dread  of  martyrdom,  for  the 
Mohammedans  consider  that  they  do  no  wrong  when 
they  kill  a  Christian.  Nevertheless  the  Greeks  and 
the  Roman  Catholics  clung  to  their  faith  when  they 
might  at  any  moment  have  secured  safety,  prosperity 
and  position  by  recanting  and  accepting  the  religion 
of  their  oppressors.  The  same  may  be  said  of  the 
Jews,  who  actually  increased  in  numbers  under  persecu- 
tion because  emigrants  came  from  Roumania,  where 
they  suffered  even  more  from  the  Christians  than  in 
Bosnia  from  the  Turks. 

Since  the  Austrian  occupation  there  has  been  a  large 
invasion  of  Jewish  traders,  who  have  been  attracted  by 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  299 

the  commercial  opportunities.  But,  curiously  enough, 
the  old  Jewish  families  will  have  nothing  to  do  with 
the  newcomers.  They  are  descendants  of  the  Jews 
who  were  driven  out  of  Spain  in  1574  and  obtained 
permission  from  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  to  settle  in 
Bosnia  and  Servia.  They  number  altogether  about 
7,000,  and  at  least  3,000  live  in  Sarajevo.  They 
speak  Spanish  among  themselves  and  have  preserved 
their  ancient  customs  and  habits.  Their  burial-ground 
in  a  suburb  of  the  city,  on  the  slope  of  the  Mountain 
Trebevic,  is  an  interesting  place.  Unhewn  boulders 
are  used  for  tombstones,  a  practice  which  originated 
when  the  Jews  were  too  poor  to  buy  anything  better. 

The  Bosnian  Jews  claim  exemption  from  the  perse- 
cution imposed  upon  the  rest  of  their  race  on  the 
ground  that  they  are  descended  from  a  member  of  the 
Sanhedrin  of  Pilate,  who  voted  against  the  crucifixion 
of  Christ.  The  same  claim  is  made  by  the  Jews  of 
Toledo,  Spain. 

It  is  the  prevailing  impression  that  the  Turks  are  the 
most  difficult  of  all  races  to  govern,  but  the  Austrian 
experiment  in  Bosnia  has  demonstrated  that  this  is  a 
mistake.  The  better  class  of  the  Turkish  population 
have  welcomed  the  restoration  of  order  and  have  been 
the  strongest  supporters  of  the  new  government.  The 
officials  have  suppressed  the  fanatics  by  the  applica- 
tion of  a  punishment  which  they  dread  more  than 
death.  To  shoot  or  kill  a  Mohammedan  is  simply  to 
send  him  to  the  paradise  he  is  seeking,  and  he  believes 
that  he  will  rise  again  in  the  actual  body;  but  if  his 
body  is  burned  or  cut  to  pieces  it  is  impossible  for  him 
to  attain  paradise,  for  he  cannot  rise  again  or  be 
translated  if  his  soul  has  no  body  to  inhabit.  There- 
fore all  Moslem  believers  who  have  been  convicted  of 


300    The  TURK  ajid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

murderer  other  capital  crimes  have  been  sentenced  to 
death  and  cremation,  which  so  terrified  the  fanatics  that 
they  have  left  the  country. 

The  Bosnians  are  naturally  very  bright,  although  the 
lack  of  educational  facilities  and  the  ordinary  com- 
pensations for  industry  and  ingenuity  have  kept  them 
down.  Occasionally  some  man  like  Nikola  Tesla,  the 
famous  electrician  of  New  York,  who  is  a  native  of 
Bosnia,  has  broken  through  the  restrictions  and  has 
found  an  opportunity  to  develop  his  genius  elsewhere. 
But  such  cases  are  very  few.  Long  Turkish  oppression 
crushed  the  minds  as  well  as  the  spirits  of  the  people, 
and  only  with  the  coming  generation  are  they  begin- 
ning to  show  the  talents,  ingenuity  and  other  natural 
qualities  which  their  admirers  have  claimed  for  them. 
They  are  naturally  honest,  too,  although  until  recently 
they  have  had  few  examples  of  integrity  to  imitate. 
There  is  very  little  stealing,  and  corruption  in  office 
has  been  so  severely  punished  that  the  government  is 
almost  free  from  it.  At  first  natives  who  were  favored 
with  official  positions  attempted  to  imitate  the  prac- 
tices of  the  Turks  who  preceded  them,  but  soon  found 
that  it  would  not  be  tolerated,  and  I  was  assured  that 
for  four  or  five  years  there  have  been  no  cases  of 
official  dishonesty  detected.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Austrian  officials  have  set  excellent  examples  for  the 
natives  in  this  respect. 

A  large  part  of  the  property  in  Bosnia  belongs  to 
the  government  or  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  or  has 
been  bequeathed  or  appropriated  to  religious  and 
charitable  objects  and  held  in  trust  by  officials  for  the 
benefit  of  mosques,  hospitals,  schools,  fountains  and 
for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  the  poor.  Under  the 
Turks  the  revenues  of  these  properties  were  generally 


AN   EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION   ^,oi 


j^ 


stolen,  but  since  the  Austrian  occupation  the  business 
has  been  so  well  managed  that  it  has  not  only  sup- 
ported but  paid  for  the  extensive  improvement  of  the 
charities  for  which  it  was  intended.  The  same  maybe 
said  of  the  government  revenues.  Under  the  Turks 
the  harvests  were  not  allowed  to  be  gathered  until  the 
collectors  had  calculated  the  amount  of  taxes  and  had 
received  the  money,  which  was  often  one-third  of  the 
total  value  and  usually  one-fifth,  and  a  great  part  of 
the  money  went  into  the  pockets  of  the  collectors 
instead  of  the  public  treasury.  This  was  such  a  com- 
mon practice  that  everybody  knew  all  about  it,  and 
hence  the  reforms  which  the  Austrians  have  introduced 
are  all  the  more  conspicuous. 

The  most  fascinating  town  in  Bosnia  is  Jajce,  where 
the  people  have  had  so  little  intercourse  with  the  out- 
side world  that  they  still  retain  the  customs  and  manners 
and  wear  the  costumes  of  their  ancestors  four  or  five 
centuries  back.  The  women  are  clothed  in  brilliant 
colors  and  load  themselves  with  ornaments  of  silver, 
bronze  and  enamel.  Like  the  Hindus  and  the  North 
American  Indians,  they  wear  the  greater  portion  of 
their  wealth  upon  their  bodies.  The  men  dress  in 
white  sheepskin,  beautifully  tanned.  In  summer  they 
wear  the  wool  outside  and  in  the  winter  they  wear  it 
inside.  The  arms  and  hands  of  both  men  and  women 
are  usually  tattooed  with  religious  emblems.  They 
are  devout  Catholics,  and  you  seldom  find  a  boy  or  a 
girl  over  sixteen  who  does  not  carry  a  crucifix  tattooed 
upon  some  part  of  the  person.  Both  men  and  women 
wear  their  hair  long. 

At  Jajce  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  sanctuaries, 
the  Church  of  St.  Luke,  which  is  venerated  equally  by 
Catholics,   Greeks  and   Mohammedans,   as  everybody 


302    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

believes  that  it  was  the  early  burial-place  of  the 
apostle,  and  that  when  it  was  threatened  with  destruc- 
tion by  the  Turks  in  the  Middle  Ages  an  army  of 
angels  lifted  it  from  one  side  of  the  river  to  the  other. 
You  are  shown  the  place  where  the  church  formerly 
stood  on  the  east  bank,  and  the  inhabitants  of  all  the 
surrounding  country  would  regard  you  as  a  hope- 
less skeptic  if  you  expressed  a  doubt  of  the  truth 
of  the  story  that  it  was  lifted  by  invisible  hands, 
carried  several  hundred  yards  and  placed  intact 
upon  a  new  foundation.  Thousands  of  pilgrims, 
especially  people  who  are  crippled  and  diseased, 
visit  the  shrine,  and  many  miracles  have  been  per- 
formed there. 

According  to  the  local  belief,  St.  Luke  lived  and 
died  in  Jajce,  and  was  buried  in  this  church,  but  the 
priest  in  charge  says  that  is  a  mistake.  He  does  not 
know  of  any  evidence  that  the  apostle  ever  lived  at 
Jajce,  and  believes  that  he  died  in  Syria,  but  the 
records  show  that  in  the  thirteenth  century  the  remains 
of  the  apostle  were  brought  from  Constantinople  to 
Rogus,  one  of  the  towns  upon  the  Adriatic  coast,  and, 
in  1436,  George  Brankovic,  King  of  Servia,  purchased 
them  of  the  Turkish  governor  of  that  province.  The 
latter,  fearing  a  riot  in  the  town  if  an  attempt  were  made 
to  take  them  away,  caused  his  spies  to  circulate  a  rumor 
that  the  Sultan  had  ordered  a  census  for  the  purpose  of 
taxation  and  military  service,  and  that  it  would  be 
taken  on  a  certain  day.  All  the  Christian  population 
had  business  in  the  country  for  a  few  days  about  that 
time,  so  that  they  might  evade  the  "  enumerators. 
While  they  were  absent  the  holy  casket  was  secretly 
taken  from  the  church  and  carried  aboard  a  vessel. 
For  several  months  it  was  not  missed,  and  the  theft  was 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  303 

not  detected  until   rumors  began  to  come  back  from 
Servia  concerning  its  reception  in  that  country. 

Helena,  daughter  of  Brankovic,  married  Tyrtko,  the 
last  king  of  Bosnia,  and  took  the  body  with  her  as 
part  of  her  dowry.  When  Jajce  was  captured  by  the 
Turks  she  managed  to  escape  and  carried  it  to  Italy, 
where  it  was  placed  in  the  convent  of  St.  Giustina  at 
Padua. 

A  voyage  up  the  Adriatic  to  Venice  or  Trieste  along 
the  Dalmatian  coast  is  one  of  the  most  enjoyable  that 
can  be  imagined.  The  scenery  is  sublime.  The 
cloudless  blue  of  the  skies  and  the  water,  the  purple 
tints  of  the  hills,  mingled  with  the  orange  and  scarlet 
of  the  autumn  foliage,  make  a  harmony  of  color  that 
can  scarcely  be  found  elsewhere,  while  the  little 
islands  that  make  up  the  archipelago  protect  the 
coast  from  rough  water,  and  the  steamers  glide  in  and 
out  among  them  without  feeling  the  wind  or  the  tide 
or  any  other  marine  disturbance  that  a  passenger  can 
object  to.  It  is  very  much  like  sailing  through  the 
famous  Inland  Sea  of  Japan,  only  in  this  case  you  have 
a  continuous  coast  on  one  side,  while  in  the  other  it  is 
on  both  sides.  There  is  a  choice  of  steamers,  two  or 
three  a  week,  so  that  one  can  stop  off  at  any  of  the 
beautiful  little  towns  for  twenty-four  or  forty-eight 
hours  and  then  take  up  his  journey  again. 

Cattaro  is  only  interesting  and  important  as  the  port 
of  the  little  principality  of  Montenegro,  which  has 
caused  so  much  dissention  among  the  European 
nations,  and  the  terminus  of  the  road  to  Cetinje,  its 
capital.  Cattaro  does  not  belong  to  Montenegro, 
because  England  and  Austria  are  afraid  Prince 
Nicholas  would  cede  it  to  Russia  if  he  had  the  power 
to  do  so.     Montenegro  is  theoretically  independent, 


304    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

and  under  the  protection  of  the  great  Powers,  but  there 
is  a  very  close  intimacy  between  the  ruling  family  and 
the  imperial  house  of  Russia,  and  everybody  believes 
that  there  is  a  secret  treaty  of  alliance  also.  Like 
the  other  Balkan  States,  Montenegro  was  a  province 
of  Turkey  until  1878,  when  the  treaty  of  Berlin  made 
it  independent,  and,  although  it  contains  a  population 
of  only  228,000,  less  than  that  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  its  political  importance  is  great.  Two  of 
the  daughters  of  the  reigning  prince  have  married 
cousins  of  the  Czar,  another  is  the  wife  of  the  King  of 
Italy,  and  a  fourth  is  the  Duchess  of  Leuchtenburg, 
whose  husband  is  next  to  a  king. 

Ragusa,  another  of  the  towns  on  the  coast,  and  a 
charming  old  place,  is  identified  with  some  of  the 
most  stirring  incidents  in  history.  In  the  Middle 
Ages  it  was  almost  as  powerful  as  Venice,  Naples  or 
Genoa,  and  was  able  to  resist  the  attacks  of  the  Turks. 
Here  Richard  Cceur-de-Leon  landed  on  his  return 
from  the  Crusade.  During  a  gale  at  sea  he  made  a 
vow  that  he  would  build  a  church  to  his  patron  saint 
on  the  spot  where  he  was  permitted  to  make  a  safe 
landing.  He  finally  went  ashore  on  the  little  island 
of  La  Croma,  then  moved  over  to  Ragusa,  where  the 
people  received  him  with  such  hospitality  that  he 
asked  the  Pope  to  relieve  him  from  his  vow  and  let 
him  build  the  church  in  Ragusa,  which  had  several 
thousand  inhabitants,  instead  of  upon  a  barren  little 
island.  But  the  Pope  would  not  grant  his  prayer,  and, 
like  the  gentleman  that  he  was,  he  built  churches  in 
both  places.  That  at  Ragusa  was  destroyed  in  an 
earthquake  in  the  seventeenth  century,  but  the  church 
at  La  Croma  still  stands. 

Metkovic,  the  port  of  Bosnia  on  the  Mediterranean, 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  305 

and    the  southern    terminus  of   the   state   railway,    is 
situated  upon  a  point  of  land  made  by  the  silt  of  the 
Narenta  River,  twelve  miles  from  its  mouth,  and  has 
the  unhappy  reputation  of  being  the  most  unhealthy 
port  on   the    Adriatic.      The  surrounding  country  is 
swampy,  and  miasmatic  poisons  are  believed  to  rise  in 
clouds  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  whenever  the  sun 
goes  down.    It  is  purely  a  modern  commercial  city,  with 
about  4,000  population,   mostly  Italians,   Greeks  and 
Jews,  and  looks  like  an  Italian  town.     Everybody  is 
engaged  in  fishing  or  shipping.     Metkovic  will  become 
a  port  of  growing  importance  as  the  trade  of  Bosnia 
develops,  but  people  never  stop  there  if  they  can  help 
it  for  fear  of  malaria  and  mosquitoes,  and  the  trains 
from    Sarajevo    are    arranged    to    connect   with    the 
steamers  so  that  passengers  can  be  rushed  through  as  if 
it  were  a  plague-infested  place.      I  do  not  think  it  is 
any  worse  than  Colon,  and  it  really  looks  much  better, 
because  the  buildings  are  of  stone  or  stuccoed  brick, 
with  thick  walls,    solid  floors   and  tiled  roofs,   while 
Colon    is  a  collection    of   bamboo   huts   and  wooden 
houses.     Metkovic  is  fourteen  miles  from  salt  water. 
A  canal   is  being  dredged  through  the  delta,  which  is 
broad  and  level,  so  that  the  largest  steamers  can  reach 
the  docks  instead  of  handling  cargoes  in  lighters.     The 
marsh,  being  made  of  the  soil  washed  down  from  the 
mountains,  is  of  prodigious  richness,  and  marvelous  sto- 
ries are  told  of  its  fertility;  but  the  atmosphere  is  so  un- 
healthful  that  few  people  attempt  to  cultivate  the  land. 
Syndicates   have  been  organized  to  drain  the  marsh, 
but    the  outlay    is   too   great.     I    have    seen    tropical 
vegetation  along  the  Spanish  Main,  in  Yucatan,  Cuba 
and  the  other  West    India  Islands,  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Amazon  and  the  Orinoco,  but  there  is  nothing  on 


3o6    The  TURK  ayid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  American  hemisphere  to  compare  with  the  plant 
life  there. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  many  places  along  the 
eastern  coast  of  the  Adriatic  are  Spalato  and  Salona, 
where  are  found  the  most  extensive  and  best-preserved 
Roman  ruins  and  remains  in  all  that  country.  Cen- 
turies before  the  birth  of  Christ,  Salona  was  a  populous 
and  prosperous  city,  and  its  people  were  far  advanced 
in  culture;  quite  equal  to  those  of  Rome.  Their 
wealth  and  artistic  taste,  their  luxurious  habits  and 
rivalry  in  display,  are  clearly  illustrated  by  the  remains 
of  their  palaces,  baths  and  places  of  amusement.  The 
entire  district  for  fifty  miles  around  is  full  of  absorbing 
attractions  to  archeologists  and  historians,  and  the 
palace  of  Diocletian  at  Salona  is  declared  to  be  the 
best-preserved  example  of  Roman  architecture  of  its 
period  now  extant.  It  possesses  extraordinary  inter- 
est for  everybody,  and  fascinates  artists  and  architects. 

Attracted  by  the  entrancing  scenery  of  Salona,  his 
native  place,  the  Emperor  Diocletian,  at  the  height  of 
his  power  and  opulence,  erected  here  an  incomparable 
retreat  in  which  he  spent  his  declining  years.  The 
palace,  or  more  properly  the  series  of  palaces,  covers 
nearly  ten  acres  of  ground,  and  contemporary  writers 
relate  that  6,000  servants,  attendants  and  guards  were 
required  to  protect  and  wait  upon  this  luxurious 
Roman.  The  palace  was  twelve  years  in  construction, 
and  must  have  cost  an  enormous  sum  of  money,  for  in 
size,  magnificence  and  architectural  pretensions  it  sur- 
passed all  dwellings  that  had  been  erected  before  or 
have  been  erected  since.  At  the  time  of  its  comple- 
tion, at  the  end  of  the  third  century  after  Christ,  it 
was  doubtless  the  largest,  the  most  beautiful  and 
costly  structure  ever  built  by  human  hands.     Many  of 


AN    EXAMPLE  OF  ADMINISTRATION  307 

the  architectural  details  still  remain  in  a  perfect  or 
partial  state  of  preservation,  sufficient  to  excite  the 
wonder  and  the  admiration  of  visitors.  The  most 
perfect  portions  are  the  mausoleum,  intended  for 
Diocletian's  tomb,  which  is  now  used  as  a  church;  the 
Capella  Palatine,  now  the  baptistery;  the  main  vesti- 
bule, a  colonnade  and  three  of  the  gates.  All  of  them 
are  sufficiently  well  preserved  to  permit  an  accurate 
study,  but  the  rest  of  the  palaces  have  been  practically 
destroyed,  and  the  marble  is  being  gradually  carried 
to  Trieste,  Venice  and  even  to  Rome  and  other 
cities  of  Italy  for  building  purposes.  Several  of  the 
most  beautiful  palaces  in  Venice  are  said  to  have  been 
constructed  entirely  of  material  taken  from  the  palace 
of  Diocletian.  After  the  death  of  the  emperor,  in  313 
A.D.,  the  palace  became  state  property,  but  none  of 
his  successors  ever  made  it  an  abode,  because  of  the 
expense  of  maintaining  the  establishment.  Shortly 
after  the  Christian  era  it  was  converted  into  a  fortress 
and  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire  was  allowed 
to  crumble  into  ruins. 


i 


PART  V 

Greece 


309 


PART  V 

GREECE 
XV 

FROM   CORFU   TO  CORINTH 

A  little  narrow-gauge  railway  runs  across  the  king- 
dom of  Greece  from  Patras  to  the  town  of  Corinth, 
hugging  the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  and  then,  crossing  a 
ridge  that  divides  the  isthmus,  follows  the  shore  of 
the  Saronic  Gulf  to  Athens.  There  are  altogether 
about  six  hundred  miles  of  railroad  under  operation 
in  Greece,  and  about  three  hundred  miles  abandoned. 
You  can  find  the  track  of  the  latter  in  various  parts  of 
the  country,  but  the  most  important  of  the  abandoned 
routes  was  to  run  up  through  Thessaly,  the  northern 
part  of  the  kingdom,  to  the  Turkish  frontier.  A  little 
more  patience  and  a  little  more  money  would  have 
carried  it  through  and  made  a  splendid  thing  for  the 
entire  country,  because  the  people  of  southern  Greece 
do  not  raise  food  enough  to  supply  their  own  wants, 
while  in  northern  Greece  there  is  a  good  deal  to  spare. 
The  difference  in  the  price  of  bread  in  the  Peloponnesus 
and  in  Thessaly  is  unnaturally  great,  for  the  Thessa- 
lians  have  few  markets  and  the  Peloponnesians  have 
few  farms.  This  railroad  was  expected  to  equalize 
things,  but  unfortunately  it  has  not  been  completed 
and  the  rails  lie  rusting  until  they  are  stolen  for  old 
iron. 

Brindisi  is  the  gateway  to  the  East.     The  steamers 

3" 


312    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

for  India,  China  and  Japan  touch  there  coming  and 
going,  to  leave  and  take  passengers  for  and  from 
Paris,  London,  Berlin  and  other  parts  of  Europe, 
who  can  thus  save  the  long  voyage  of  seven  or  eight 
days  from  Bremen  and  Hamburg  and  five  and  six  days 
from  London  and  Havre,  and  cross  Europe  by  rail. 
Special  trains  with  dining-cars  and  sleepers  are  run  in 
connection  with  the  steamers  which  carry  the  mails 
also,  making  Paris  and  Berlin  in  thirty-six  hours  from 
Brindisi  and  London  in  forty-eight. 

When  you  leave  Brindisi  going  east  you  enter 
Hellenic  ground.  The  Adriatic,  like  some  other 
beauties,  has  an  uncertain  temper  and  behaves 
badly  sometimes.  It  is  called  "the  blue  Adriatic," 
"the  gem  of  seas,"  "the  sapphire  sea,"  and  by  other 
poetic  names,  but  it  is  also  "the  stormy  Adriatic,"  and 
an  old  seaman  told  me  that  "it  could  kick  up  more 
sea  than  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  slightest  provoca- 
tion." The  steamers  for  Greece  generally  leave 
Brindisi  at  midnight,  so  as  to  reach  the  opposite  coast 
early  in  the  morning,  and  there,  when  you  awaken,  if 
you  please,  you  can  see  the  sun  rise  upon  masses  of 
solid  snow  that  crown  the  mountains  of  the  Albanian 
coast  of  Turkey.  The  land  of  mythology  is  before 
you.  Every  island,  every  mountain,  every  valley  was 
the  scene  of  some  fable,  the  abode  of  some  god,  or  a 
battlefield  that  you  read  about  in  the  Greek  classics 
when  you  were  in  college.  The  places  and  the  names 
of  ancient  history  are  brought  home  in  a  familiar  way, 
and  as  you  gaze  from  the  deck  of  the  steamer  upon 
them  they  look  like  the  real  thing. 

At  Corfu,  a  beautiful  little  island  lying  off  the 
Turkish  coast,  you  get  your  first  view  of  oriental  life 
and  customs,  and   a  girl   with  a  kodak  is    kept  busy 


FROM    CORFU   TO   CORINTH  313 

taking  snap-shots  of  the  queer  things  she  sees.  There 
is  a  temptation  to  photograph  all  the  ruins,  because 
they  remind  you  of  the  warriors,  heroes  and  philoso- 
phers you  studied  about  when  a  boy,  and  Greece  is 
full  of  them.  The  island  of  Ithaca  excites  vivid  recol- 
lections, and  the  Phaeacian  ship  which  brought 
Ulysses  home  lies  in  the  harbor  of  Corfu,  turned  to 
stone.  It  is  now  occupied  by  a  monastery  of  Greek 
monks  and  called  by  the  humiliating  name  of  Mouse 
Island.  According  to  the  Odyssey,  after  he  was 
wrecked,  Ulysses  landed  at  Corfu,  swimming  to  the 
shore.  He  made  up  a  bed  of  dead  leaves  on  the  rocks 
as  a  precaution  against  rheumatism,  and,  worn  out  by 
excitement,  peril  and  fatigue,  sank  into  a  dreamless 
sleep.  There  he  was  discovered  by  Nausicaa,  a  beau- 
tiful princess,  upon  whose  charms  Homer  loves  to 
linger.  She  was  the  daughter  of  King  Alcinous,  and 
when  Ulysses  awoke  she  led  him  to  her  father's 
palace,  with  its  exquisite  gardens  and  luscious  fruits. 
The  local  guides,  who  endeavor  to  adjust  their 
moral  consciousness  to  the  curiosity  of  visitors,  and  the 
topography  of  the  island  to  the  demands  made  upon 
them,  show  the  exact  place  where  Ulysses  swam 
ashore,  and  tell  you  that  the  garden  of  the  King 
Alcinous  is  now  occupied  by  the  country  palace  of 
King  George  of  Greece,  one  of  the  most  democratic 
and  considerate  of  monarchs,  who  loves  to  have  the 
people  enjoy  everything  that  belongs  to  him.  He 
opens  his  gates  to  strangers  and  subjects  alike. 
Nobody  is  required  to  pay  a  fee  or  even  to  ask  per- 
mission, although  the  proper  thing  to  do  is  to  leave  a 
card  at  the  porter's  lodge  and  a  word  of  appreciation, 
which  that  official  takes  entirely  to  himself.  One  of 
the  streets  in  Corfu  is  named  in  honor  of  King  Alci- 


314    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

nous,  and  Ulysses  is  considered  a  sort  of  stepson  of 
whom  the  community  is  exceedingly  proud. 

Corfu  has  been  the  scene  of  many  exciting  events 
both  in  modern  and  mythological  times.  When  we 
arrived  the  people  were  more  or  less  excited  over  the 
action  of  the  government  in  expelling  the  late  Mahmoud 
Damad  Pasha,  brother-in-law  of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey, 
and  Hadji  Kadri  and  Siret,  two  other  Turkish  exiles, 
who  were  accused  of  sedition  and  conspiracy,  and, 
having  fled  from  Constantinople,  took  refuge  upon  the 
beautiful  Greek  island,  where  they  were  received  with 
warm  sympathy  and  treated  with  distinguished  respect. 
The  government  of  Greece,  however,  could  not  very 
well  furnish  an  asylum  to  Turkish  fugitives  of  such 
eminent  notoriety.  The  relations  between  the  two 
countries  have  been  cordial  since  the  close  of  the 
war  four  years  ago,  and  the  Grecian  ministry  con- 
sidered it  prudent  not  to  offer  any  new  cause  of 
offense.  So  the  Sultan's  brother-in-law  and  his  com- 
panions were  requested  to  leave  Corfu  and  go  to 
Switzerland,  which  is  the  most  hospitable  country  in 
Europe  to  political  exiles. 

Corfu  hates  the  Turks.  No  people  on  the  earth's 
surface  hates  them  more,  not  even  the  Bulgarians  or 
Macedonians,  although  more  than  two  centuries  have 
passed  since  the  wrongs  of  which  they  complain  were 
committed.  From  1815  to  1863,  with  the  other  Ionian 
islands,  Corfu  was  occupied  by  the  English,  and  in  the 
latter  year,  upon  the  accession  of  the  present  King 
George  to  the  throne,  Mr.  Gladstone  persuaded  Queen 
Victoria  to  give  them  back  to  Greece.  That  accounts 
for  a  statue  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  before  the  university  in 
Athens,  erected  by  the  students  a  few  years  ago. 

Fortunately  for  those  who  go  to  Corfu  to  enjoy  the 


FROM   CORFU   TO   CORINTH  315 

climate — and  it  is  a  favorite  winter  resort  for  people 
with  weak  lungs,  and  other  invalids — the  English 
administration  built  a  fine  system  of  roads  which  are 
still  kept  in  comparatively  good  repair,  although  the 
modern  Greeks  will  never  be  celebrated  for  road- 
building.  You  can  drive  from  one  end  of  the  island 
to  the  other  and,  during  the  spring  and  autumn,  it  is  as 
near  paradise  as  any  place  on  earth.  The  late 
Empress  of  Austria  had  a  beautiful  villa  on  the  out- 
skirts of  the  city.  It  was  proposed  to  bring  the  late 
Czar  of  Russia  to  Corfu  in  the  hope  that  his  life  might 
be  saved,  and  numerous  other  famous  invalids  have 
sought  health  and  strength  in  its  glorious  sunshine  and 
soft,  but  invigorating  air. 

The  island  embraces  about  2']'j  square  miles,  and  is 
thickly  settled,  having  more  than  115,000  inhabitants 
Most  of  the  surface  is  covered  with  olive  groves.  It 
is  estimated  that  there  are  more  than  4,000,000  trees, 
which  are  allowed  to  grow  without  pruning  and 
develop  a  beauty  and  attain  a  size  unparalleled  else- 
where. The  manufacture  and  export  of  preserved 
olives  and  olive  oil  is  the  chief  occupation  of  the 
people,  but  they  raise  a  good  deal  of  other  fruit  and 
wine,  and  their  cheese  made  from  goat's  milk  is  famous 
in  the  London  and  Paris  markets. 

To  the  beauty  of  the  scenery  and  the  delightful 
climate  is  added  the  charm  that  always  attends  the 
mysteries  of  mythology,  and  besides  the  romance  of 
Ulysses  many  other  stories  of  ancient  days  were 
located  there.  Near  the  base  of  a  picturesque  old  cita- 
del with  twin  towers  is  a  low,  circular  structure  dating 
back  to  the  sixth  or  seventh  century  before  Christ,  but 
the  inscription  is  still  decipherable  and  records  that 
this   monument   was   erected    to    Menerates,    son    of 


3i6    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Tlasias,  who  lost  his  life  by  drowning.  Near  by  are 
two  or  three  monuments  erected  in  honor  of  officials 
of  the  British  government  who  distinguished  them- 
selves during  the  occupation. 

Sailing  toward  Patras,  the  steamer  from  Corfu  soon 
passes  the  Ambracian  Gulf,  where  Octavius  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  influence  in  Rome  by  a  victory  over 
the  fleet  of  his  rival,  Mark  Antony,  and  a  little  farther 
down  is  the  island  of  Leucas,  where,  according  to  the 
ancient  story-tellers,  Sappho  plunged  into  the  sea 
because  Phaon  did  not  return  her  love.  A  little 
farther  on  is  Ithaca,  whose  connection  with  the  Odyssey 
has  made  it  familiar  to  every  student  of  Greek,  for  the 
wanderings  and  misfortunes,  the  sufferings  and  the 
fortitude  of  Ulysses,  the  king  of  this  island,  have  been 
handed  down  to  us  in  one  of  the  most  fascinating 
stories  of  adventure.  His  descendants  occupy  Ithaca 
to-day,  and  are  distinguished  for  their  bold  seaman- 
ship, their  love  of  home,  their  hospitality  and  their 
courage,  and  their  mercantile  instincts  have  made 
them  rich.  The  most  important  product  of  the  island 
is  a  strong  aromatic  wine.  They  show  you  where 
Homer  lived  in  the  town  of  Stavros,  and  an  ancient 
staircase  cut  in  the  rock  leads  past  a  Greek  church  to 
a  rectangular  forum  hewn  in  the  side  of  the  mountain. 
It  is  surrounded  by  seats  and  looks  like  an  ancient 
place  of  worship,  but  is  claimed  to  be  the  place  where 
Homer  had  a  school. 

Nearly  every  natural  phenomenon  upon  the  island  is 
described  in  the  Odyssey — even  a  stalactite  cave  to 
which  any  boy  in  town  will  lead  you  through  a  vine- 
yard and  over  stony  goat  pastures.  The  entrance  is 
narrow,  and  it  is  hard  work  for  fat  men  to  squeeze 
through,  but  with  a  little  effort  you  can  enter  a  damp 


FROM    CORFU   TO   CORINTH  317 

chamber  about  fifty  feet  in  diameter  and  thirty  feet  in 
height,  from  the  roof  of  which  hang  numerous  stalac- 
tites like  those  to  be  seen  in  Mammoth  Cave,  Ken- 
tucky. If  you  want  to  know  how  it  looks,  read  Book 
XIII  of  the  Odyssey,  where  Homer  describes  the 
grotto  of  the  nymphs. 

The  suitors  of  Penelope  waited  for  the  return  of 
Telemachus  upon  a  little  island  on  the  east  of  Ithaca, 
and  on  the  island  of  Zante,  from  which  we  get  so 
many  currants  and  raisins,  the  fishermen  still  collect 
pitch  to  calk  their  boats  from  a  spring  mentioned  by 
Herodotus. 

Patras  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  commercial 
towns  of  Greece,  and  one  of  the  oldest.  It  is  second 
to  Athens  in  population  and  has  one-third  of  all  the 
commerce  of  the  country.  In  some  respects  it  is  the 
most  modern  of  Grecian  towns,  but  its  history  can  be 
traced  back  at  least  seven  centuries  before  Christ. 
Patras  was  also  one  of  the  first  centers  of  Christian 
teaching,  and,  according  to  local  tradition,  the  Apostle 
Andrew  was  crucified  and  buried  there.  He  is  the 
patron  saint  of  the  town  and  the  cathedral  is  dedicated 
to  his  memory. 

Near  by  is  a  curious  spring,  to  which  is  attached  a 
superstition  that  has  kept  its  hold  upon  the  people 
since  the  age  of  mythology,  when,  as  now,  sick  people 
looked  upon  their  reflections  in  the  water  and  by 
their  appearance  judged  as  to  the  probability  of 
recovery.  The  effect  appears  to  be  a  matter  of  light. 
If  the  sun  is  obscured  by  clouds  or  happens  to  be  in  a 
certain  part  of  the  heavens  every  face  reflected  in  the 
water  shows  a  deathlike  pallor.  With  a  clear  sky  and 
at  high  noon  the  reflection  is  always  full  and  ruddy 
with  color. 


3i8    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

From  Patras  to  Corinth,  along  the  edge  of  the  gulf, 
through  olive  groves  and  currant  plantations,  with  a 
range  of  snow-clad  mountains  on  one  side  and  pic- 
turesque hills  on  the  other,  is  a  delightful  journey. 
The  culture  of  currants  seems  to  absorb  the  greatest 
degree  of  attention.  They  tell  me  that  toothsome 
little  fruit  was  formerly  called  "corenth,"  taking  its 
name  from  the  historic  city.  The  currant  trade  is  the 
largest  and  the  most  profitable  in  Greece,  and  a 
considerable  part  of  the  cultivated  area  is  planted  like 
the  vineyards  of  Italy,  in  rows  about  three  feet  apart, 
with  single  stalks,  which  are  trimmed  down  every  fall 
in  order  to  strengthen  the  roots.  New  shoots  spring 
out  with  the  sunshine  in  March  and  April,  and,  by 
August,  are  loaded  with  large  light  and  dark  currants 
unlike  those  grown  in  America.  You  can  buy  them  in 
boxes  at  any  grocery  store  for  mince  pies,  fruit-cake, 
plum  pudding  or  that  sort  of  thing.  The  devel- 
opment of  this  industry  has  been  gradual.  In  1830, 
after  the  independence  of  Greece  was  established,  the 
crop  amounted  to  only  about  1,900  tons.  In  1899  it 
was  153,500  tons,  and  it  was  a  poor  year.  The  average 
for  the  last  ten  years  has  been  about  170,000  tons,  and 
the  value  of  the  currants  exported  annually  has 
reached  nearly  gS, 000,000.  The  largest  quantity  goes 
to  England  and  France.  The  United  States  takes 
10,000  tons,  which,  you  must  appreciate,  is  an  enormous 
quantity  of  dried  currants.  The  French  wine-growers 
use  them  for  toning  up  their  wine. 

While  currant-culture  is  profitable,  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  risk  in  it.  The  crop  is  easily  affected  both  by 
drought  and  excessive  rains.  Severe  wind-storms  may 
blow  the  fruit  off  the  bushes,  and  the  hills  surrounding 
the   Gulf  of   Corinth,   which    is  the  most  productive 


FROM   CORFU   TO   CORINTH  319 

section  of  the  country,  are  exposed  to  storms  which  at 
any  day  may  convert  a  good  crop  into  a  poor  one. 

Olive  oil  is  also  a  source  of  wealth,  and  the  beautiful 
silver-leaved  trees  are  one  of  the  pleasantest  features 
of  the  landscape.  Olive  trees  live  to  a  great  age.  It 
is  asserted  by  some  who  delight  to  entertain  travelers 
that  groves  are  now  standing  which  bore  fruit  in  the 
days  of  Socrates  and  Demosthenes,  and  near  Eleusis, 
trees  are  pointed  out  which  may  have  been  standing 
for  2,800  years.  The  trunks  are  enormous  and  are 
perforated  with  holes,  new  bark  having  grown  around 
the  wounds  made  by  decay.  Most  of  the  olives  are 
consumed  in  the  country.  Much  of  the  oil  is  sent  to 
France. 

Owing  to  the  infrequent  and  irregular  rains,  irriga- 
tion is  necessary  everywhere  in  Greece;  and  every 
farmer  has  a  simple  and  limited  irrigation  system  of 
his  own.  The  water  is  pumped  up  from  wells  by  blind- 
folded mules,  horses  or  oxen,  and  pours  into  cement 
reservoirs  set  at  such  an  elevation  as  will  give  a  natu- 
ral flow  into  the  fields.     Windmills  are  not  used. 

At  every  railway  station  were  crowds  of  people, 
many  of  them  in  the  picturesque  native  costume, 
which  is  a  cross  between  that  of  a  ballet-dancer  and  a 
Highland  chieftain.  The  kilts  are  white  cotton, 
accordion-plaited,  and  worn  over  white  woolen  tights, 
with  black  garters  below  the  knee.  The  shoe  or 
slipper  is  without  a  heel,  curling  up  over  the  toe  like 
an  old-fashioned  skate,  and  having  a  large  rosette  or 
pompon  of  silk  or  black  cotton  upon  the  tip.  The 
jacket  is  beautifully  embroidered  in  gold  or  silver  braid, 
sleeveless  and  open  in  front.  The  shirt  sleeves  of 
cotton  are  full  and  flowing,  and  the  front  of  the  shirt 
is  plaited.     The  collar  is  a  stiff  circlet,  embroidered 


320    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

with  gold  thread  or  braid;  the  girdle  is  often  of  leather 
or  sometimes  a  sort  of  sash.  A  Greek  gentleman  in 
full  dress  or  a  servant  in  complete  livery  will  wear  a 
pistol  and  two  or  three  daggers  stuck  in  between  his 
belt  and  his  shirt-front  in  a  handy  sort  of  way.  The 
peasant  wears  a  leathern  belt,  with  a  sheathed  dagger 
or  a  pouch  over  the  pit  of  his  stomach,  from  which  the 
handles  of  a  knife  and  a  revolver  usually  protrude. 
The  Greek  still  wears  the  red  Phrygian  cap  upon  his 
head,  and  the  tassel  dangles  down  upon  his  shoulder 
in  an  artistic  way. 

A  "well-greaved  Greek"  is  the  most  picturesque 
looking  object  in  Europe,  No  other  costume  will 
compare  with  his;  but,  like  all  national  peculiarities, 
it  is  gradually  becoming  obsolete.  You  see  it  in  the 
country  and  towns  of  the  interior,  but  in  the  cities  few 
people  wear  it.  The  aristocracy  dress  their  servants 
in  that  way,  which  has  made  it  unpopular  among  the 
mechanics  and  the  working  classes  generally.  They 
fear  people  will  mistake  them  for  household  servants. 

In  the  rural  districts,  however,  those  objections  do 
not  prevail,  and  almost  all  the  natives  at  the  railway 
stations  and  the  few  men  who  were  digging  in  the 
fields  were  in  native  dress.  Their  picturesqueness 
would  be  greatly  enhanced  if  they  were  a  little  neater 
about  their  persons.  At  first  acquaintance  the  modern 
Greek  does  not  inspire  either  admiration  or  confi- 
dence. He  is  very  dirty  as  to  his  garments,  as  to  his 
habits  and  as  to  his  house,  and,  I  grieve  to  say,  judging 
from  appearances,  that  he  lets  his  wife  and  sisters 
carry  more  than  their  share  of  the  load.  Most  of  the 
labor  in  the  fields,  as  we  passed  through  on  the  rail- 
roads, was  being  done  by  women.  We  saw  women 
staggering  along  the  highways  under  heavy  cargoes, 


FROM   CORFU   TO   CORINTH  321 

which  they  carried  upon  their  heads,  and  clambering 
down  from  the  mountains  with  big  bundles  of  fagots 
upon  their  backs.  In  fact,  the  men  seemed  to  have 
selected  the  easy  jobs.  None  of  them  had  burdens 
upon  their  heads  or  backs,  and  very  few  were  toiling 
in  the  fields.  They  were  driving  carts  and  watching 
the  sheep,  goats  and  swine  while  their  wives  and 
daughters  were  swinging  the  hoe. 

"As  beautiful  as  a  Greek  shepherd"  used  to  be  a 
favorite  phrase  with  writers  of  romance,  but  I  doubt  if 
those  who  used  it  had  ever  seen  one,  for  the  ideal 
Greek  shepherd  is  not  visible  to  the  ordinary  eye. 
The  men  who  tend  the  flocks  are  stupid,  filthy-looking 
fellows,  with  blank  faces,  matted  beards  and  clothing 
that  apparently  has  never  seen  a  laundry.  The  ancient 
Greek  knew  all  about  statuary  and  architecture.  That 
we  know  by  evidences  that  have  been  found  under  the 
soil  of  his  country;  but  the  modern  Greek  of  the 
working  class  lives  in  a  house  that  is  comfortless, 
unclean  and  dismal,  with  no  evidences  of  beauty  or 
taste  or  culture.  He  needs  whitewash,  chloride  of 
lime  and  carbolic  acid,  although  it  is  claimed  by  many 
that  his  intellect  is  as  strong  and  active  as  those  of 
his  prototype  who  lived  twenty  centuries  ago. 

In  passing  through  the  railway  towns  of  the  "currant 
country"  nature  alone  is  lovely.  Everything  else 
seems  stricken  with  poverty  and  neglect.  The  men 
who  hang  around  the  railway  stations  seem  to  be 
indifferent  to  their  condition  and  do  not  inspire  either 
respect  or  admiration,  although  their  conversational 
powers  seem  to  be  well  developed,  and  nearly  every 
one  of  them  carried  a  string  of  beads — not  to  count  his 
prayers,  but  to  occupy  his  hands  while  talking.  Beads 
are  aids  to  conversation.     Members  of  parliament  use 


322    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

them  when  making  speeches.  I  never  learned  that 
Demosthenes  required  any  such  auxiliary  to  elo- 
quence, but  am  assured  that  the  activity  of  the  brain 
and  the  fluency  of  tongue  are  increased  by  fingering 
them. 

Modern  Corinth,  which  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
gulf,  is  a  town  of  four  thousand  inhabitants,  having 
been  founded  only  forty  years  ago,  after  the  last 
houses  of  the  ancient  town  had  been  overturned  by  an 
earthquake.  During  recent  years  its  prosperity  has 
been  considerably  revived  by  the  completion  of  a  ship- 
canal,  cut  through  the  clay  ridge  that  divides  the  Gulf 
of  Corinth  and  the  Saronic  Gulf,  which  shortens  the 
journey  for  ships  by  two  hundred  and  two  miles.  The 
idea  of  cutting  a  canal  through  that  isthmus  was  pro- 
posed by  the  ancients  and  was  undertaken  by  Caesar, 
Hadrian  and  Nero.  Traces  of  the  work  of  Nero  still 
exist.  The  present  canal  was  built  by  a  French  com- 
pany and  opened  in  1893.  It  is  three  miles  and  a  half 
in  length,  one  hundred  feet  in  breadth,  and  can 
accommodate  vessels  drawing  twenty-six  feet  of  water. 
There  are  no  locks  or  sluices,  but  it  is  on  the  tidewater 
level,  with  breakwaters  to  protect  the  entrances. 

Old  Corinth,  that  St.  Paul  visited  three  times  and 
possibly  four,  and  which  was  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant, populous,  immoral  and  enterprising  cities  of  his 
day,  is  dead  and  buried.  Buttercups  and  dandelions 
are  growing  upon  its  grave,  as  bright  and  cheerful  as 
those  that  decorate  the  prairies  of  Kansas  or  the  door- 
yards  of  New  England.  The  Grecian  buttercup  is  not 
so  large  nor  so  beautiful  as  that  we  found  in  Norway, 
but  it  gives  one  a  home  feeling  to  find  it  everywhere — 
a  universal  flower.  New  Corinth  resembles  Santa  Fe 
and  other  of  the  adobe  towns   of  New  Mexico  and 


FROM   CORFU   TO   CORINTH  323 

Arizona.  It  is  surrounded  by  clay  cliffs,  weatherworn 
into  fantastic  shapes  like  those  of  the  Rio  Grande 
valley,  and  the  dust  is  deep  in  the  unpaved  streets. 
The  same  lean  cattle,  mangy  dogs  and  half-naked 
children  playing  in  the  sunshine;  the  same  diminutive 
donkeys,  the  modern  "Greek  slaves,"  bearing  burdens 
that  hide  their  bodies  and  leave  only  their  legs  and 
ears  exposed;  the  same  mud  fences  and  adobe  walls 
that  are  found  in  New  Mexico;  the  same  bake- 
ovens  beside  the  cabins,  and  women  of  similar  feat- 
ures, wearing  similar  garments,  picking  the  live 
stock  out  of  the  children's  hair.  Crowds  of  men 
are  sitting  at  tables  in  front  of  the  cafes,  drinking 
coffee  and  talking  politics,  and  the  same  dilapidated 
vehicles  that  you  see  in  the  old  Spanish-American 
settlements  were  waiting  for  our  arrival  at  the  railway 
station. 

The  town  has  a  beautiful  site,  at  the  head  of  the 
gulf.  The  water  has  a  deep-blue  color,  with  opalescent 
tints  upon  the  surface.  It  receded  in  ancient  times 
and  left  a  sandy  beach  upon  which  goats  were  browsing 
among  old  barrel-hoops,  piles  of  rubbish  and  strug- 
gling weeds,  and  fishermen  were  leisurely  mending 
their  nets  beside  their  boats,  or  in  the  shade  of  the 
little  shanties  in  which  they  keep  their  implements. 
Modern  Corinth  is  surrounded  by  mighty  hills  upon 
which  shepherds  were  guarding  sheep  and  cattle,  and 
when  storms  come  upon  them  they  find  shelter  in  the 
caves  that  the  wind  and  the  rain  have  burrowed  in  the 
clay  cliffs.  At  the  top  of  the  highest  hill,  the  Acro- 
Corinth,  as  it  is  called,  is  a  medieval  fortress  erected 
by  the  Venetians  when  they  possessed  the  country. 
It  is  surrounded  by  ruins  of  houses  and  temples  from 
which  the  material  to  build  the  fort  was  taken.     The 


324    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

view  from  the  peak,  famous  even  in  antiquity, 
embraces  a  great  part  of  the  mountainous  district  on 
both  sides  of  the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  which  is  spread  out 
like  a  map  around  the  observer.  In  ancient  times  a 
watch  was  always  kept  there  to  signal  the  approach  of 
an  enemy  to  the  people  of  the  towns  and  the  farmers 
in  the  valley  below. 

The  traveler  who  enters  Greece  from  the  west  has  a 
continuousView  of  Parnassus,  which  rears  its  snow-clad 
summit  among  less  famous  mountains  upon  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  gulf,  and  beside  it  is  the  beautiful 
Helicon,  the  haunt  of  the  Muses.  In  clear  weather 
the  Acropolis  of  Athens  is  visible,  the  pillars  of  the 
Parthenon  and  the  glistening  marble  walls  of  the  royal 
palace. 

Near  the  base  of  Acro-Corinth  is  the  remarkable 
spring  of  Pirene,  which,  according  to  mythology, 
gushed  forth  at  a  stroke  of  the  hoof  of  Pegasus,  and 
was  bestowed  on  Sisyphus  by  the  river  god  Asopus,  in 
return  for  his  having  revealed  the  hiding-place  of  the 
owner's  daughter,  Aegina,  who  had  been  carried  off  by 
Zeus.  Near  by  are  ruins  of  a  barracks  and  several 
dismounted  cannon. 

In  the  golden  age,  four  hundred  years  before  Christ, 
old  Corinth  was  the  most  splendid,  luxurious  and 
wealthy,  the  most  frivolous  and  wicked  of  all  the 
cities  of  Greece.  It  was  a  commercial  metropolis,  the 
Chicago  of  that  period,  a  center  and  focus  of  financial 
affairs,  and  stood  upon  a  plateau  about  six  miles  from 
the  sea,  upon  the  side  of  the  hill  called  Acro-Corinth, 
looking  down  upon  a  narrow  and  beautiful  inlet  of 
blue  water,  between  two  ranges  of  mountains.  The 
Gulf  of  Corinth  is  often  compared  to  the  fjords  of 
Norway,   but  its  surroundings  are  mild   and    modest 


FROM    CORFU   TO    CORINTH  325 

beside  their  rugged  grandeur.  It  bears  a  closer  resem- 
blance to  the  Bosphorus  and  to  the  Inland  Sea  of  Japan. 

The  road  which  leads  from  the  railway  station  at 
new  Corinth  to  the  ruins  of  the  old  city  is  exception- 
ally good  for  Greece.  It  rises  with  an  almost  imper- 
ceptible grade  toward  a  group  of  seven  majestic 
columns,  the  earliest  examples  of  the  Doric  school  of 
architecture  extant,  and  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
precious  monuments  of  the  art,  scholarship  and 
religion  of  ancient  Greece.  They  are  deeply  fluted 
monoliths,  twenty-three  and  one-half  feet  high,  five 
feet  and  eight  inches  in  diameter  at  the  base  and  four 
feet  and  three  inches  at  the  top,  with  projecting  cap- 
itals and  heavy  entablature.  They  were  once  covered 
with  enamel.  Five  of  them  are  nearly  perfect.  The 
other  two  have  been  broken  and  the  pieces  are  now 
held  together  by  iron  bands.  All  have  been  gnawed 
more  or  less  by  the  tooth  of  time  and  show  curious 
wounds,  which  look  as  if  they  had  been  cut  with  a 
chisel.  These  pillars  are  all  that  remain  of  the  famous 
Temple  of  Apollo,  the  ideal  of  Doric  architecture,  the 
noblest,  simplest  and  most   natural  of  all  the  schools. 

Unconscious  of  their  artistic  and  archeological 
advantages,  which  students  travel  four  thousand  miles 
to  enjoy,  the  Grecian  peasants  continue  to  plow  the 
adjacent  fields,  and,  the  day  that  we  rode  through, 
groups  of  women  with  tucked-up  skirts  were  breaking 
the  earth  with  heavy  hoes  and  heaping  it  around  the 
roots  of  the  currant  bushes.  Fields  of  winter  wheat 
were  vivid  with  tender  shoots  of  green,  and  a  fodder 
plant  that  resembles  alfalfa  was  growing  bravely  on 
the  other  side  of  formidable  fences  built  with  stones 
stolen  from  the  ruins  of  the  old  metropolis.  Here 
and  there  is  an  old-fashioned  threshing-floor,   almost 


326     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

as  venerable  as  the  pillars  of  the  temple,  a  circle  thirty 
or  forty  feet  in  diameter,  paved  with  smooth  stones, 
upon  which,  after  the  harvest,  the  grain  is  separated 
from  the  stalk  by  driving  hoofed  cattle  over  it.  In  his 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  Paul  recalled  to  them  that 
pious  injunction  in  Deuteronomy,  "Thou  shalt  not 
muzzle  the  ox  when  he  treadeth  out  the  corn,"  but  he 
might  have  appealed  to  them  also  in  behalf  of  the 
blindfolded  donkeys  that  patiently  follow  the  tread- 
mills to  fill  the  irrigation  reservoirs  so  that  the  plants 
may  live  when  the  earth  is  dry. 

Women  were  washing  at  the  reservoirs  and  spread- 
ing the  garments  out  upon  the  grass  and  cobble-stones 
to  dry,  and  little  children  were  amusing  themselves 
with  the  same  simple  games  that  absorb  the  attention 
of  childhood  in  America. 

Before  reaching  the  site  of  the  old  city  we  passed  a 
cross-roads  where  a  troop  of  young  Corinthians  was 
rushing  out  of  an  unpainted  adobe  schoolhouse. 
Nearly  all  of  them  were  clothed  in  tunics  made  of  blue 
and  white  checked  gingham,  the  favorite  pattern  for 
aprons  among  New  England  housewives.  It  was  the 
noonday  recess,  and,  notwithstanding  their  traditional 
eagerness  for  intellectual  culture,  it  is  evident  that  the 
schoolboys  of  Greece  feel  more  amiable  when  coming 
away  from  the  schoolhouse  than  when  they  are  follow- 
ing their  noses  in  the  other  direction.  They  were 
playing  pranks  upon  one  another,  and  we  stopped  the 
carriage  to  see  the  result  of  an  amateur  wrestling 
match.  In  the  adjoining  lot  was  a  boy  about  twelve 
years  old,  clad  in  a  similar  tunic,  herding  a  drove  of 
pigs.  He  looked  as  if  he  felt  his  humiliating  situa- 
tion, and  we  silently  extended  our  sympathy  to  him. 
I  felt  like  reminding  the  youngster,  for  his  encourage- 


FROM    CORFU   TO    CORINTH  327 

ment  and  consolation,  that  one  of  the  noblest  and  the 
greatest  of  the  popes  was  a  pig-driver  when  he  was  a 
boy,  and  that  that  also  was  the  occupation  of  Pizarro, 
the  conquistador  of  Peru,  before  he  entered  the  Spanish 
army. 

Where  this  schoolhouse  stands  was  once  a  suburb  of 
Corinth,  known  as  Kraneion,  which,  about  2,300  years 
ago,  was  the  abode  of  an  old  crank  named  Diogenes; 
perhaps  not  the  first,  and  I  am  certain  not  the  last,  of 
the  cynics.  He  was  born  and  brought  up  in  the  town  of 
Sinope,  where  his  father  was  a  money-changer,  and  the 
old  man,  being  deficient  in  the  moral  perception  and  the 
cunning  of  some  of  the  modern  Greeks,  was  detected 
in  the  adulteration  of  coin.  He  died  in  prison,  and 
the  disgrace  seems  to  have  soured  the  life  of  his  son, 
who  wandered  about  telling  people  what  fools  they 
were  to  waste  their  time  in  enjoyment;  and,  to  practice 
what  he  preached,  he  discarded  all  earthly  possessions 
except  a  cloak,  a  wallet  in  which  he  carried  bread,  and 
a  wooden  bowl.  He  threw  the  last  away  some  time 
after,  when  he  saw  a  boy  drinking  out  of  the  hollow  of 
his  hand — at  least  that  is  the  story  as  I  remember  it 
from  my  college  days,  when  for  a  time  I  knew  Diog- 
enes and  other  famous  Greeks  quite  intimately. 

When  Diogenes  finally  reached  Corinth  he  found 
that  prosperous  and  luxurious  city  a  fine  field  for  a 
cynic  to  work  in,  and  took  lodgings  and  office-room  in 
a  large  jar  that  was  made  to  hold  wine  but  had  been 
thrown  away  as  leaky  and  useless.  He  used  to  make 
fun  of  the  rich  and  vain  Corinthians,  and  although  he 
ate  nothing  but  scraps  that  the  cooks  threw  at  him,  he 
lived  to  a  very  old  age,  and  became  so  famous  that 
Alexander  the  Great  came  to  visit  him.  After  a  mem- 
orable interview,  when  the  emperor  arose  to  take  his 


328     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

departure,  with  a  gracious  impulse  he  told  the  old 
cynic  that  he  would  grant  him  any  favor  that 
he  desired  to  ask.  Diogenes  looked  up  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  and  requested  him  to  get  out  of 
his  light. 

Diogenes  died  from  the  bite  of  a  dog,  and  his  last 
request  to  the  neighbors  was  that  they  throw  his  body 
into  the  alley  for  the  dogs  to  eat;  but  they  refused  to 
do  so,  and  gave  him  a  noble  funeral  and  erected  a 
monument  in  his  honor,  upon  which  was  carved  the 
figure  of  a  dog — the  symbol  of  his  life. 

A  little  village  of  fifty  or  sixty  houses,  with  a  store 
or  two,  a  post-office  and  a  cafe,  occupies  the  site  of  the 
old  city.  Part  of  the  lands  about  have  been  purchased 
by  the  American  Archeological  Institute.  Its  repre- 
sentatives from  the  American  School  of  Classical 
Studies  at  Athens  have  been  engaged  for  several  years 
in  making  excavations,  and  have  laid  bare  a  consider- 
able portion  of  old  Corinth,  including  the  forum,  the 
market-place,  the  temple  of  justice,  three  fountains, 
baths  hewn  in  the  solid  rock,  and  several  dwellings 
and  buildings  that  were  occupied  for  business 
purposes.  The  work  is  being  extended  gradually  as 
fast  as  the  limited  funds  of  the  society  will  allow,  and 
the  disclosures  are  of  great  classical  interest  and 
importance  to  historians  and  students.  It  will  be  con- 
tinued until  all  the  important  ruins  are  disclosed. 
Near  by,  upon  a  convenient  roadway,  a  warehouse  has 
been  erected  to  preserve  the  statues,  the  inscriptions 
and  other  small  articles  of  interest  that  are  found  in 
the  excavations. 

Unfortunately  for  us,  the  laws  of  Greece  prohibit  the 
exportation  of  these  relics.  The  government  is  very 
strict  about  such   matters.      No   excavations   can   be 


S  2 


z  ;: 


FROM    CORFU    TO    CORINTH 


329 


made  without  a  permit  from  the  authorities,  who 
designate  an  inspector  to  supervise  them,  and  he 
keeps  a  careful  watch  upon  all  that  is  done.  Every- 
thing must  go  to  the  museum  at  Athens  unless  the 
owner  of  the  property  is  willing  to  erect  a  building  for 
the  public  exhibition  of  whatever  he  may  find.  In  this 
way  some  of  the  old  cities  and  the  little  towns  of 
Greece  have  secured  local  museums  which  possess  a 
certain  advantage  in  enabling  students  to  study  arche- 
ology upon  the  ground,  but  this  scarcely  offsets 
many  disadvantages,  for  most  of  them  are  difficult  of 
access.  The  most  important  articles  discovered  at 
Corinth  have  been  sent  by  the  American  school  to  the 
National  Museum  at  Athens. 

At  a  shop  in  the  village  a  few  fragments  of  indiffer- 
ent value  from  the  excavations  are  for  sale,  and  they 
are  no  doubt  genuine.  Bogus  antiquities  are  manu- 
factured in  large  quantities,  but  most  of  them  are  more 
expensive  than  the  genuine.  Although  the  Romans 
carried  away  from  Greece  the  choicest  works  of  art  to 
embellish  their  palaces  and  temples,  and  vandals  have 
been  following  their  example  ever  since,  the  earth  is 
still  full  of  marble,  pottery  and  bronzes,  which  are 
being  uncovered  daily.  But  most  of  the  work  is  done 
by  foreigners.  The  Greek  government  is  so  poor  that 
it  can  afford  to  do  but  little,  and  the  citizens  have 
other  uses  for  their  money. 

Near  the  excavations,  in  front  of  a  low  adobe  hut, 
sat  an  aged  man  in  the  native  costume,  smoking  his 
pipe  and  rocking  the  cradle  of  a  child.  He  might 
have  posed  for  a  portrait  of  Diogenes. 

In  the  center  of  the  village  is  an  enormous  plane- 
tree,  which  shades  a  triangular  market-place.  Several 
men  were  sipping  coffee  at  little  tables  and  babbling 


330    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

children  were  playing  around  them  who  evidently  did 
not  realize  the  historical  sanctity  of  their  surround- 
ings. 

Old  Corinth  has  as  much  interest  for  religious 
people  as  for  archeologists  and  historians,  for  it  is 
closely  associated  with  the  missionary  work  of  St. 
Paul.  In  the  year  51,  in  company  with  Luke  the 
Evangelist,  he  visited  Macedonia — where  Miss  Stone 
was  captured  by  brigands.  At  Philippi  he  was 
scourged,  imprisoned  and  put  into  the  stocks.  There 
was  an  earthquake  while  he  was  in  prison  and  he  con- 
verted the  jailer.  Having  frightened  the  officials  by 
telling  them  that  he  was  a  Roman,  they  permitted  him 
to  depart,  and  he  sailed  to  Athens,  where  he  preached 
an  eloquent  sermon  from  Mars  Hill.  Then  he  came 
to  Corinth,  lodged  at  the  house  of  Gaius,  and  found 
Aquila  and  Priscilla,  and  there  Silas  and  Timotheus 
joined  him.  He  lived  at  Corinth  a  year  and  a  half, 
and  there  wrote  his  first  epistle  to  the  Thessalonians, 
which  he  sent  by  the  hand  of  Timotheus.  He  was 
then  brought  before  Gallio,  the  proconsul,  a  brother 
of  Seneca,  the  great  philosopher,  who  was  prime  min- 
ister for  the  Emperor  Nero,  at  Rome,  at  that  time. 
After  this  he  "tarried  there  yet  a  good  while'"'  before 
returning  to  Syria  and  Jerusalem.  Six  years  later  he 
visited  Corinth  again,  "and  there  abode  three  months" 
at  the  house  of  Gaius,  where  he  wrote  his  epistles  to 
the  Romans  and  Galatians,  after  which  he  returned 
again  to  Jerusalem  and  then  made  his  fatal  journey  to 
Rome. 

Timotheus  was  left  in  charge  of  the  church  at  Cor- 
inth, and  when  Paul  sent  him  there  he  said:  "Let  no 
man  despise  him."  It  would  be  interesting  to  know 
the  places  in  Corinth  where  Paul   lived  and  preached. 


FROM    CORFU   TO    CORINTH  331 

and  perhaps  American  shovels  may  yet  discover  some 
evidences  of  his  life  there,  although  beyond  his  own 
testimony  we  know  nothing  about  it.  The  lintel  of 
the  Jewish  synagogue  has  been  found  already  by  the 
American  excavations. 


XVI 


MODERN  ATHENS 

Modern  Athens  is  a  city  of  marble.  Many  of  the 
dwellings  and  business  houses  and  nearly  all  the  public 
edifices  are  of  that  material,  and  even  the  sidewalks 
on  some  of  the  streets  are  paved  with  it.  Upon  the 
bosom  of  Mount  Pentelikos  are  two  great  gashes 
which  can  be  seen  for  many  miles.  One  of  them  is 
the  quarry  from  which  was  hewn  the  marble  for  the 
Parthenon,  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  the  Temple  of 
Theseus  and  other  famous  structures  of  ancient 
Athens.  The  other  wound  was  made  in  modern  times, 
and  shows  the  source  of  the  material  of  which  the 
present  city  of  Athens  was  built.  The  authorities  have 
protected  the  old  quarry  for  historical  and  archeo- 
logical  reasons,  and  nothing  has  been  taken  from  it 
for  several  centuries.  The  other  quarry  is  just  as 
good.  The  stone  is  easily  cut  and  removed,  and, 
although  the  grain  is  not  so  fine  as  the  Parian  marble 
from  the  quarries  in  southern  Greece,  it  is  equal  to 
that  from  the  famous  Carrara  quarries  of  Italy,  and 
costs  much  less.  I  was  wondering  why  some  enter- 
prising American  did  not  build  a  railway  to  the  quarry 
from  Piraeus,  the  seaport  of  Athens,  so  as  to  export 
the  marble,  for  none  is  exported  now.  It  need  be 
only  about  eighteen  miles  long,  not  counting  the 
curves  necessary  to  make  the  grade,  and  it  could  be 
run  on  the  gravity  principle. 

The  use  of  marble  and  white  stucco  gives  modern 
Athens  an  appearance  of  neatness  and  beauty  which 

332 


MODERN   ATHENS  333 

there  is  no  soot  to  deface.  The  dust  is  very  bad, 
however,  when  the  wind  blows.  The  streets  are 
unpaved  and  the  soil  is  a  clay  that  moistens  into  mud 
or  dries  into  dust  very  readily,  and  a  waiter  always 
stands  at  the  door  of  the  hotel  with  a  feather  duster  to 
brush  off  your  boots.  One  of  the  streets  is  named  in 
honor  of  .^olus,  the  god  of  the  winds,  but  he  does  not 
confine  his  attentions  to  that  thoroughfare.  In  the  old 
part  of  Athens  is  a  well-preserved  octagonal  structure 
of  marble  called  the  Tower  of  the  Winds,  and  one 
might  suppose  that  it  was  the  place  where  they  origi- 
nated, but  the  name  seems  to  have  been  given  merely 
because  it  was  surmounted  by  a  weather-vane.  The 
tower  was  built  about  a  hundred  years  before  Christ  by 
Andronicus  of  Syria,  so  an  inscription  tells  us,  as  a 
compliment  to  the  city  of  Athens,  and  was  adorned 
with  a  sun-dial  and  a  clock  that  was  run  by  water- 
power  in  some  ingenious  manner;  but  the  exact  plan 
of  its  operation  is  not  understood  by  modern  mortals. 
An  aqueduct  supplied  a  cistern  and  the  cistern  fed 
machinery  too  complicated  for  modern  horologists  to 
comprehend. 

The  streets  leading  east  from  the  Tower  of  the  Winds 
enter  a  depression  in  the  side  of  a  hill,  inclosed  by  a 
wall  which  was  formerly  the  site  of  a  school  called  the 
Diogeneion,  supposed  to  have  been  founded  by 
Diogenes,  the  famous  cynic  in  the  third  century 
before  Christ. 

The  palace  of  the  king  is  an  ugly  modern  structure, 
of  which  a  nation  with  the  taste  of  the  Greeks  ought 
to  be  ashamed.  It  looks  like  a  factory,  but  the  other 
public  buildings  are  so  imposing  and  appropriate,  par- 
ticularly a  group  of  three  —  the  university,  the 
Academy  of  Sciences  and  the  library— that  they  more 


334    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

than  offset  the  atrocity  in  which  the  king  resides.  I 
doubt  if  there  is  a  more  beautiful  combination  of 
buildings  in  all  the  world.  The  academy,  designed  by 
a  Vienna  architect,  is  asserted  to  be  the  purest 
example  of  the  classic  school  that  has  arisen  in 
modern  times.  The  surroundings  are  appropriate,  and 
the  entire  street,  called  University  Street,  is  worthy  of 
the  artistic  traditions  of  the  Athenians,  as  well  as  the 
spirit  of  modern  enterprise. 

A  pretty  park  adjoins  the  palace  grounds  in  the 
center  of  the  city,  and  several  of  the  residence  streets 
are  lined  with  pepper-trees,  but  there  is  no  other  shade 
in  Athens — except  the  awnings  stretched  across  the 
sidewalks  in  the  business  section  to  shelter  show- 
windows  and  politicians  who  sit  at  little  tables  in 
front  of  the  cafes.  The  gleam  of  the  white  marble  is 
painful  to  the  eyes.  The  architecture  of  most  of  the 
houses  in  the  new  quarter  of  the  town  is  pure  Greek; 
simple,  dignified  and  stately;  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  picturesque  squalor  and  dilapidation  of  Constanti- 
nople and  the  ornate  embellishment  of  the  Italian 
cities.  Some  critics  complain  that  the  architecture  of 
Athens  is  monotonous,  but  it  is  the  monotony  of  pure 
and  simple  taste,  and  none  can  deny  the  beauty  of  the 
residences.  Most  of  them  are  constructed  upon 
modern  plans,  especially  the  interiors,  to  meet  the 
demand  for  conveniences,  and  I  am  sure  that  the 
private  buildings  of  Athens  to-day  are  more  comfort- 
able and  beautiful  than  in  the  days  of  Pericles  and 
Phidias.  The  mountain  Pentelikos  can  furnish  all  the 
marble  that  is  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
builders  for  twenty-five  more  centuries. 

In  the  old  part  of  the  city  the  streets  are  narrow, 
dirty,    and    the   odors    rise    to    heaven.     The    modern 


MODERN    ATHENS 


335 


Greek  peasant  is  not  a  tidy  person,  nor  is  his  wife,  and 
the  street  that  passes  his  dwelling,  the  house  in  which 
he  lives  and  all  his  surroundings  are  repulsive  to  the 
eye,  the  nostrils  and  the  sense  of  propriety. 

There  are  three  theaters  in  Athens,  one  of  them  a 
stately  marble  building  of  classic  design,  at  which 
original  plays  in  Greek  are  produced  to  encourage 
native  literary  genius.  An  opera  company  comes  over 
from  Italy  for  two  or  three  weeks  every  winter,  but 
otherwise  there  is  very  little  music  in  Athens.  Nor  is 
there  any  modern  art.  The  museum  is  not  attractive 
to  ordinary  visitors,  but  it  is  a  fountain  of  joy  and 
never-ending  bliss  to  archeologists,  being  filled  with 
broken  statuary  and  pottery,  old  bronzes  and  tablets 
bearing  inscriptions  that  are  half-effaced,  leaving  just 
enough  to  excite  curiosity  and  controversy  among 
students. 

The  classic  spirit  still  prevails  in  Greece.  It  even 
pervades  the  common  council  of  Athens,  or  whoever 
has  the  duty  of  naming  the  streets,  for  they  are  nearly 
all  called  in  honor  of  the  ancient  gods,  philosophers 
and  poets  of  the  golden  age.  The  Boulevard  of  the 
University  and  the  Boulevard  of  the  Academy  are  the 
broadest  and  the  finest  avenues  in  the  residence 
portion  of  the  city,  while  the  principal  business  street 
is  named  in  honor  of  Mercury.  Other  streets  are 
called  after  Solon,  yEsculapius,  Hippocrates,  Aris- 
totle, Thucydides,  Pericles,  Sophocles,  Menander, 
Venus,  Pan,  Hebe,  Apollo,  Jupiter,  Theseus,  Philip, 
Constantine  and  most  of  the  holy  apostles.  One  of 
the  principal  hotels  is  the  Minerva,  and  it  is  the 
fashion  to  christen  shops  in  honor  of  the  great  men  of 
the  past.  Classic  names  are  also  usual  in  baptizing 
children.     You  frequently  hear  of  Hermes,  Alcibiades 


336    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

and  Homer,  and  the  Athens  city  directory  reads  like 
the  muster-roll  of  the  army  of  Agamemnon,  which  you 
will  find  in  the  early  part  of  Homer.  Achilles,  Ajax, 
Menelaus,  Miltiades,  Leonidas,  Themistocles,  and 
other  names  equally  familiar  to  students  of  Greek,  are 
in  daily  use  among  the  people. 

Greece  is  a  true  democracy.  No  other  country  in 
Europe,  not  even  Norway,  is  so  subject  to  the  will  of 
the  people,  and  the  democratic  spirit  is  often  shown 
in  ways  that  are  disagreeable.  The  feeling  of  equality 
is  general,  and  there  is  an  undisguised  jealousy 
against  one  man  rising  above  another.  That  is  one  of 
the  great  obstacles  to  progress — a  sort  of  dead-line 
which  no  man  can  cross  without  being  made  the  target 
of  every  selfish  and  dissatisfied  citizen  who  construes 
the  superiority  of  his  neighbor  as  a  personal  grievance 
and  an  offense  against  the  individual  and  the  state. 
The  king  is  a  foreigner.  Were  he  not  a  foreigner  he 
might  not  be  king.  Those  who  know  the  Greek  char- 
acter best  declare  that  it  would  be  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  the  Greeks  to  permit  one  of  their  own 
citizens  to  rule  over  them.  The  king  is  democratic 
enough  to  suit  their  tastes.  He  mingles  freely  with 
the  people,  and  while  he  maintains  beyond  criticism 
the  dignity  that  becomes  his  position,  he  is  neverthe- 
less simple  in  his  habits,  unostentatious  in  his  exercise 
of  power  and  loves  nothing  so  well  as  to  be  con- 
sidered one  of  the  Greeks.  There  have  been  no 
scandals  or  intrigues  at  his  court.  The  scepter  has  not 
been  wielded  to  the  injury  of  any  one.  He  treats 
everybody  alike  and  perhaps  goes  a  little  too  far  that 
way,  because  the  exercise  of  more  severe  discipline 
might  do  something  to  suppress  crime.  The  king's 
example  is  followed  by  his  sons,  his  ministers  and  the 


MODERN   ATHENS  337 

attaches  of  the  court,  and  therefore  is  imitated  by  the 
people.  The  children  have  inherited  the  spirit.  The 
common  schoolsof  Athens  are  attended  by  boys  and 
girls  of  all  grades  of  society,  the  children  of  laborers 
sitting  beside  those  of  the  ministers  of  state,  reading 
from  the  same  books  and  engaging  in  the  same  games. 

Travelers  in  the  country  sometimes  complain  that 
the  democratic  spirit  is  offensive;  that  the  "common 
people"  sometimes  are  too  aggressive  and  independ- 
ent. I  heard  an  English  gentleman  relate  his  experi- 
ence with  the  villagers  of  the  interior,  which  was 
evidence  that  they  considered  themselves  quite  as 
good  as  he,  and  he  declared  that  such  things  could 
never  have  occurred  in  England,  or  in  the  United 
States,  for  that  matter.  A  gentleman  who  has  lived 
many  years  in  Greece  explained  that  the  peasants  did 
not  intend  to  be  impertinent,  but  were  simply  exer- 
cising what  they  believed  to  be  their  privileges,  and 
demonstrating  that  a  practical  democracy  was  in 
working  order.  There  is  no  lack  of  discipline  among 
the  servant  class,  but  they  assert  their  rights  like  the 
servant-girls  of  New  England. 

Athenian  society  is  divided  into  sets,  as  it  is  every- 
where; first,  the  court  set,  made  up  of  the  higher 
officials,  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps,  officers  of 
the  army  and  navy,  rich  residents  both  foreign  and 
native  who  entertain  extensively,  and  others  who  are 
honored  with  a  personal  acquaintance  with  the  royal 
family.  This  set  is  more  or  less  exclusive,  and 
includes  only  a  small  fraction  of  those  who  are 
entitled  to  invitations  to  court  functions.  The  king's 
balls  and  receptions  are  very  much  like  those  at  the 
White  House  in  Washington,  and  people  with  shabby 
clothes  and  muddy  boots  are  often  present,  because 


338    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

their  political  influence,  if  not  their  social  position 
entitles  them  to  invitations.  There  are  no  orders  of 
nobility  in  Greece.  There  is  only  one  order  of  knight- 
hood— the  Order  of  the  Savior,  v^hich  is  conferred  by 
the  king  for  distinguished  services  of  any  character. 
About  one-half  of  the  honors  go  to  the  army  and  navy; 
the  next  in  number  are  to  those  who  have  distinguished 
themselves  in  the  service  of  the  state,  either  as  execu- 
tives, legislators  or  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps, 
and  after  them  come  the  scientists,  who  esteem  the 
ribbon  very  highly.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  the 
ancient  nobility  try  to  retain  their  titles,  but  are  laughed 
at.  Men  whose  ancestors  played  a  conspicuous  part 
in  patriotic  movements  are  much  more  admired  and 
envied,  but  even  they  have  to  give  way  to  learning,  for 
scholars  stand  higher  in  Greece  to-day  than  any  other 
class  of  the  community,  and  learning  is  considered  of 
more  value  than  great  riches. 

The  education  of  women  is  gradually  reaching  a 
level  with  that  of  men.  There  are  still  certain  social 
restraints,  due  to  tradition  and  the  influence  of  the 
neighboring  countries  of  Europe,  and  the  old-fashioned 
method  of  contracting  marriages  between  families  still 
prevails;  but,  speaking  generally,  the  women  of  Greece 
are  to-day  quite  as  independent,  quite  as  influential 
and  quite  as  well  educated  as  any  on  the  continent, 
south  of  Sweden,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the 
queen  herself  has  been  one  of  the  most  active  and 
influential  agents  in  bringing  about  the  emancipation 
of  her  sex. 

Athens  has  more  than  her  share  of  newspapers, 
dailies,  weeklies  and  those  of  occasional  publication, 
which  are  not  intended  for  news  purposes,  but  to 
express  the  opinions  of  the  different  owners  or  editors 


MODERN    ATHENS  339 

upon  public  affairs.  Even  these  are  not  sufficient, 
however,  and  the  politicians  and  the  editors  visit  the 
cafes  every  evening,  and  often  in  the  afternoon,  in 
order  to  proclaim  their  views  to  whomsoever  it  may 
concern.  Coffee-houses  have  taken  the  place  of  the 
ancient  forums,  and  one  of  the  largest  in  Athens  is 
called  "Public  Opinion  Coffee-house."  Instead  of 
referring  to  a  man  as  a  demagogue  or  a  pot-house  poli- 
tician, over  here  they  call  him  a  coffee-house  politician, 
and  nowhere  in  the  country  is  there  such  an  abundance 
of  oratorical  talent  and  public  sentiment  as  in  these 
institutions.  They  are  the  resort  of  would-be  leaders 
who  cannot  afford  to  maintain  newspapers  and  are 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  communicating  their 
thoughts  by  word  of  mouth.  The  newspapers  contain 
very  little  news — a  few  brief  telegrams  from  London, 
Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna  and  Constantinople,  relating  to 
the  most  important  events  of  the  day;  a  report  of  the 
proceedings  of  parliament;  a  review  of  the  decisions 
of  the  courts;  a  few  paragraphs  of  local  news;  per- 
sonal items  concerning  the  royal  family  and  prominent 
citizens;  half  a  column  of  market  quotations,  an 
installment  of  a  continued  story,  and  a  few  miscel- 
laneous items  clipped  from  other  European  news- 
papers. The  remainder  of  the  sheet  is  filled  with 
editorials  and  communications  upon  political  topics, 
which  are  discussed  with  the  greatest  freedom,  for  in 
Greece  the  liberty  of  the  press  is  not  abridged.  Both 
editors  and  correspondents  seem  to  feel  as  much  at 
liberty  as  in  the  United  States  to  criticise  or  con- 
demn the  policy  of  the  government,  the  extravagance 
of  the  officials,  the  inefficiency  of  the  army,  the  cor- 
ruption of  parliament,  and  even  the  personal  habits  of 
public  men. 


340    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Visitors  to  Greece  are  always  amazed  at  the  criminal 
statistics,  particularly  at  the  number  of  murders,  and 
can  scarcely  believe  them  to  be  accurate,  because  the 
number  seems  to  be  so  much  in  excess  of  that  of  any 
other  country  in  Europe.  Ordinary  crimes  —  dis- 
honesty and  the  vices  that  prevail  in  other  countries — 
are  not  general,  but  murders  occur  almost  daily,  and 
the  frequent  attempts  at  murder  and  the  number  of 
mysterious  deaths  are  shocking  in  the  stage  of  civiliza- 
tion to  which  Greece  has  attained.  In  the  province  in 
which  Athens  is  located  homicides  average  annually 
almost  one  to  l,000  of  population.  It  is  not  without 
significance  that  the  province  of  Attica  should  be  the 
scene  of  many  homicides,  for  it  is  the  center  of  learn- 
ing and  education,  the  seat  of  the  government  and  the 
headquarters  of  the  national  police.  The  causes  lie 
mostly  in  politics.  The  government  has  forbidden  the 
carrying  of  concealed  weapons,  but  the  law  is  not  en- 
forced. A  pouch  or  sheath  for  a  knife  and  a  revolver  is  a 
part  of  the  national  costume,  and  both  are  worn  openly. 
You  see  them  upon  almost  every  Greek  who  wears  the 
old-fashioned  garments  of  his  race,  and  those  who  have 
adopted  the  modern  dress  have  hip  pockets. 

When  two  Greeks  quarrel  the  first  act  is  to  draw 
their  knives,  and  unless  they  are  separated  instantly 
there  is  either  a  homicide  or  a  case  for  the  hospital, 
and  the  hospitals  of  Athens,  which  are  extensive  and 
up-to-date,  are  abundantly  supplied  with  patients, 
especially  during  periods  of  political  excitement.  If 
a  man  is  killed  in  a  controversy  it  usually  begins  a 
feud  which  does  not  end  until  several  graves  are  filled, 
because  the  unwritten  law  requires  a  life  for  a  life,  and 
the  Greeks  adhere  to  the  vendetta  as  do  the  Corsicans 
and  the  people  of  Sicily. 


MODERN    ATHENS 


341 


In  the  provinces  of  Arcadia,  which  is  a  synonym  of 
peace  and  happiness,  and  in  Laconia,  the  southern- 
most section  of  the  Grecian  peninsula,  the  vendetta  is 
as  strictly  observed  as  it  ever  was  in  Corsica.  One 
murder  is  usually  followed  by  half  a  dozen,  and  some- 
times they  continue  until  families  are  extinct.  If 
there  are  no  sons  to  take  revenge,  the  duty  passes  to 
the  nearest  relative,  and  the  code  is  understood  by 
children.  Singularly  enough  the  obligation  to  kill 
ceases  when  the  offending  person  leaves  the  province. 
The  code  prohibits  attacks  upon  enemies  when  they 
remove  to  another  part  of  the  country.  The  cause  of 
this  extraordinary  condition  can  be  traced  to  the  days 
of  Turkish  domination,  when  murder  and  other  crimes 
committed  upon  Christians  were  allowed  to  remain 
unpunished.  The  Turkish  officials  took  no  notice  of 
injuries  suffered  by  unbelievers  and  never  attempted 
to  punish  the  perpetrators. 

The  indifference  of  the  government  down  to  the 
present  day  has  encouraged  murder.  Capital  punish- 
ment is  seldom  inflicted,  and  the  verdict  of  a  court  is 
generally  acquittal.  Those  who  happen  to  be  con- 
victed are  soon  pardoned  through  political  influence. 

Politics  is  the  influential  factor  in  this  problem. 
When  a  man  is  arrested  for  murder,  his  friends  and 
family  naturally  use  every  effort  to  secure  his  acquit- 
tal, and  appeal  to  their  representatives  in  the  chamber 
of  deputies  and  other  officials  of  the  government  who 
are  supposed  to  have  a  "pull"  with  the  courts,  and 
skill  in  convincing  juries.  If  the  defendants  are  con- 
victed and  sent  to  prison  their  confinement  must  be 
made  as  short  and  as  easy  as  possible.  Hence  mem- 
bers of  the  Greek  parliament  are  kept  quite  as  busy 
looking  after  constituents  who  have  committed  homi- 


342     The  TURK  ajid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

cides  as  the  members  of  our  Congress   are  in  getting 
an  increase  of  pensions  for  old  soldiers. 

Persons  who  have  served  a  term  for  murder  bear  no 
stigma.  On  the  contrary,  as  every  man  in  Greece  is 
likely  to  suffer  a  similar  experience  sooner  or  later, 
the  contrary  is  the  case.  The  prisons  are  generally 
dirty,  uncomfortable  and  without  ventilation  or  sani- 
tary appliances,  but  they  are  no  worse  in  these  respects 
than  the  homes  from  which  the  prisoners  come.  No 
labor  is  required,  and  there  is  very  little  discipline. 
Except  in  a  few  cases,  where  solitary  confinement  is 
the  penalty,  the  prisoners  congregate  in  one  room 
during  the  daytime,  and  the  social  enjoyment  is 
almost  as  great  as  if  they  were  in  their  village  cafes 
instead.  Friends  are  allowed  to  bring  them  delicacies 
and  bedding  and  to  see  them  frequently.  Thus  a  lazy 
man  is  sometimes  more  comfortable  and  happy  in 
prison  than  out,  for  in  the  latter  case  he  would  be 
compelled  to  support  himself.  As  long  as  he  is  in 
prisofi  for  such  a  crime  as  homicide,  public  opinion 
requires  his  friends  and  family  to  support  him. 
Hence  he  can  loaf,  gossip,  argue,  smoke  cigarettes 
and  drink  coffee  all  day  long,  which  is  the  Greek  ideal 
of  happiness.  If  the  laws  could  be  amended  so  as  to 
require  the  prisoners  to  work  and  cut  off  their  enjoy- 
ments entirely,  no  doubt  it  would  go  far  to  diminish 
crime. 

Somebody  has  said  that  what  Greece  wants  is  not 
men  of  culture,  but  men  of  agriculture,  and  that  is 
probably  true.  There  are  plenty  of  men  to  till  the 
limited  area  between  the  mountains  and  the  rocky 
plateaus. if  they  would  devote  themselves  to  it,  but  it 
is  the  ambition  of  every  Greek  youth  to  obtain  a 
classical  education  and  to  engage  in  one  of  the  learned 


MODERN   ATHENS  343 

professions.  No  country  in  the  world  has  so  few 
children  in  the  primary  schools  in  proportion  to  the 
young  men  and  women  in  the  academies  and  univer- 
sities. One  class  of  the  population  is  under-educated 
and  the  other  over-educated.  Intellectual  culture 
therefore  is  not  properly  distributed.  A  compulsory 
education  law  is  not  enforced  because  of  the  inter- 
ference of  the  politicians,  and  thousands  of  children 
of  school  age  in  the  country  districts  who  should 
attend  school  are  assisting  their  parents  on  the  farms 
and  in  the  homes  and  adding  a  little  to  the  family 
income. 

There  has  been  no  census  lately,  but  estimates  based 
upon  the  young  men  who  come  into  the  army  place 
the  illiterates  at  thirty  per  cent  of  the  population  in 
the  country  and  fifteen  per  cent  in  the  towns.  Those 
who  go  to  school,  however,  show  remarkable  eagerness 
for  learning,  and  when  a  boy  has  passed  through  the 
secondary  schools  nothing  will  stop  him  from  going 
to  the  university,  where  education  is  free.  Then  it  is 
necessary  for  him  to  select  a  professional  career, 
because  the  labor  of  the  farm  is  too  arduous  and  the 
society  of  the  peasants  is  uncongenial.  The  students 
in  the  University  of  Athens  to-day  number  more  than 
three  thousand,  and  the  larger  part  of  them  come 
from  the  peasant  class.  As  a  consequence,  Greece  is 
oversupplied  with  lawyers,  doctors  and  other  profes- 
sional young  men,  who  are  compelled  to  get  a  living 
the  best  way  they  can,  because  there  is  no  parental 
allowance  to  support  them.  Many  of  them  go  in  for 
politics  and  seek  offices  under  the  government.  Many 
go  into  the  army,  and  more  are  engaged  in  humble 
clerical  employment  and  are  living  upon  crusts  until 
something   turns    up.      There   are   said    to    be    more 


344    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

university  graduates  in  Athens  in  proportion  to  the 
population  than  in  any  other  city  in  the  world,  and 
the  number  of  unemployed  is  very  large.  A  few  of 
them  drift  off  into  Turkey  and  other  countries  of  the 
Orient,  where  the  opportunities  are  greater,  but  so 
many  remain  and  make  a  business  of  politics  that  they 
are  the  curse  of  Greece. 

The  traveler  who  comes  to  Greece  from  Italy  or 
from  Turkey  or  the  Oriental  countries  is  always  grati- 
fied at  the  absence  of  beggars.  You  may  live  there  for 
years  and  never  see  one,  except  a  few  cripples,  blind 
and  decrepit  old  crones,  who  sit  at  the  doors  of  the 
churches  and  hold  out  their  hands,  pleading  pitifully 
for  alms.  There  are  excellent  hospitals  and  asylums 
for  all  the  ills  and  woes  that  humankind  suffer,  and, 
although  there  are  many  poor  and  afflicted  people  and 
much  misery  and  degradation  in  Greece,  the  pride  and 
independence  of  the  people  will  not  permit  them  to 
beg,  and  the  benevolent  spirit  of  those  who  are  more 
prosperous  makes  good  provision  for  them.  Philan- 
thropy is  a  Greek  word.  In  Greece  children  never  run 
after  strangers  in  the  street  and  beg  for  pennies  as 
they  do  in  other  countries  of  southern  Europe.  If 
a  stranger  stops  on  the  sidewalk  in  Italy  he  is  imme- 
diately surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  urchins,  ragged, 
dirty  and  impudent,  who  follow  him  for  blocks  with 
importunities.  In  Turkey  and  Egypt  it  is  even  worse. 
In  Greece  travelers  are  never  troubled  in  that  way. 

A  long  time  ago  a  hermit  made  his  home  upon  the 
top  of  the  columns  of  the  temple  of  Jupiter  at  Athens, 
and  lived  there,  exposed  to  the  sun  and  the  wind  and 
the  storms,  until  compelled  to  come  down.  He  had 
an  arrangement  with  a  woman  in  the  neighborhood  to 
provide  him  with  food,  and  she  used  to  appear  every 


MODERN    ATHENS 


345 


morning  with  a  basket  of  supplies,  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  haul  up  to  his  eyrie  with  a  clothes-line. 
In  the  Odeum  of  Herodes  Atticus,  one  of  the  loftiest 
and  most  conspicuous  of  the  ruins  at  the  base  of  the 
Acropolis,  which  was  formerly  a  theater  accommo- 
dating six  thousand  spectators,  erected  by  an  Athenian 
millionaire  in  memory  of  his  wife,  Appia  Annia 
Regilla,  a  noble  Roman  lady,  there  is  an  enormous 
earthen  wine-jar  called  a  pithos.  For  several  years 
a  half-witted  man  named  Demetrius  lived  in  it,  just  as 
Diogenes  lived  in  his  jar.  A  kind  woman  in  the 
neighborhood  furnished  him  food  whenever  he  called 
for  it,  and  in  stormy  weather  he  covered  the  mouth  of 
his  curious  dwelling  with  a  curtain  of  canvas,  which 
gave  him  adequate  shelter. 

The  parliament  of  Greece  occupies  a  conspicuous 
building  in  the  center  of  the  city  of  Athens,  which  is 
the  scene  of  frequent  exciting  episodes  and  heated 
debates.  After  observing  the  behavior  of  the  German, 
Austrian,  Hungarian,  French,  Italian  and  Greek 
chambers  of  deputies,  I  have  deliberately  reached  the 
conclusion  that  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington is  the  most  orderly,  dignified  and  statesmanlike 
legislative  body  elected  by  popular  suffrage  — not 
excepting  the  House  of  Commons.  This  is  a  recent 
opinion,  and  is  contrary  to  what  I  have  often  written. 
From  the  reporter's  gallery  of  the  Flouse  of  Repre- 
sentatives I  have  witnessed  some  very  stormy  scenes 
during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  but  they  have 
been  incidental.  Confusion  and  boisterous  behavior 
in  the  European  parliaments  are  chronic.  The  Greeks 
are  so  fond  of  debate  that  they  ought  to  have  several 
legislative  chambers  instead  of  one,  in  order  to  give 
the  eloquent  members  of  that  body  a  chance  to  express 


346     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

their  views;  but,  failing  to  get  a  hearing  in  the  house, 
they  go  to  the  nearest  cafe  immediately  after  adjourn- 
ment, where  they  are  able  to  discourse  to  their  heart's 
content  without  interruption. 

Politics  is  the  curse  of  Greece.  The  country  is  so 
small,  its  financial  and  other  interests  are  so  limited, 
and  its  influence  in  the  affairs  of  nations  so  insig- 
nificant, that  one  would  suppose  the  people  would 
devote  themselves  to  the  development  of  their  mate- 
rial resources  and  the  encouragement  of  their  indus- 
tries instead  of  wasting  their  time  in  useless  discussions 
and  quarrels.  But  I  have  always  noticed  that  the 
smaller  the  country  the  hotter  the  political  contests. 
In  Servia,  Bulgaria,  and  certain  American  republics 
where  the  population  is  less  than  in  Greece,  political 
agitation  is  even  more  bitter  and  a  larger  number  of 
people  give  their  exclusive  time  to  it. 

I  have  been  trying  to  discover  the  political  issues  in 
Greece,  but  have  given  up  in  despair.  They  seem  to 
be  numerous,  but  are  not  well  defined.  The  local 
complications  are  too  intricate  to  be  untangled  by  a 
stranger,  and  when  you  bore  through  into  the  pith  of 
the  thing  you  find  that  the  ambition  to  hold  office  is 
the  ruling  motive,  as  it  is  almost  everywhere  else. 
There  are  few  offices  in  Greece  and  many  men  who 
desire  to  fill  them.  Hence  the  outs  are  opposed  to 
the  ins  and  attempt  to  justify  their  demands  for 
authority  by  proclaiming  political  principles  and 
promising  administrative  reforms. 

King  George  is  a  wise,  liberal  and  tactful  ruler.  He 
has  a  turbulent  population  to  deal  with,  but  is  discreet, 
judicious,  generous,  and  never  mixes  in  political  affairs. 
He  always  selects  his  ministers  from  the  party  which 
has  a  majority  in  the  parliament  and  is  usually  able  to 


MODERN    ATHENS 


347 


handle  them  without  difficulty.  He  holds  the  confi- 
dence of  the  parliament  and  the  people.  Everybody 
trusts  him  as  a  safe  man.  The  only  criticism  I  heard 
in  Greece  was  that  he  is  too  merciful  with  violators  of 
the  law,  and  perhaps  it  would  be  to  the  advantage  of 
the  country  if  the  criminal  courts  were  more  severe  in 
their  penalties  and  the  pardoning  power  were  not  so 
freely  exercised. 

The  political  riots  in  Athens  in  the  spring  of  1902 
were  due  to  an  unusual  cause.  Greek  scholars  are 
very  jealous  of  the  language  and  are  trying  to  restore 
ancient  Greek  to  common  use.  Modern  Greek  is  not 
taught  at  the  university,  and  whether  it  shall  be 
taught  in  the  public  schools  is  a  political  issue.  The 
advocates  of  a  return  to  the  classic  tongue  insist  that 
the  only  way  to  restore  it  is  to  teach  it  to  the  children 
in  the  primary  schools.  Their  opponents  argue  that 
if  the  children  are  taught  nothing  but  ancient  Greek 
they  can  not  read  modern  newspapers,  magazines  or 
books.  Modern  Greek  is  a  corruption  of  the  ancient 
language,  which  has  become  debased  by  common 
usage,  as  the  modern  Italian  is  a  corruption  of  the 
ancient  Latin.  While  it  is  possible  for  the  native  of 
one  province  to  understand  another  in  conversation, 
just  as  a  man  from  New  England  can  understand  the 
lingo  of  the  Arizona  miner,  very  few  of  the  common 
people  are  able  to  read  the  pure  classic.  Some  of  the 
literary  men  of  the  country  and  many  politicians  are 
so  democratic  in  their  notions  that  they  would  use 
nothing  but  the  vulgar,  modern  Athenian  dialect,  and 
one  man  in  particular  has  made  himself  conspicuous  in 
support  of  that  proposition.  He  has  been  bitterly 
denounced,  however,  by  the  university  faculties  and 
the  serious  scholars  of  the  country,  and  is  held  up  to 


348     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

students  as  an  enemy  of  their  language  and  their  race. 
So  he  resides  in  England. 

This  controversy  is  hot  and  cold  according  as  provo- 
cation occurs,  and  volumes  have  been  written  upon 
one  side  and  the  other.  During  the  recent  war  with 
Turkey,  Queen  Olga,  who  is  a  noble  woman,  famous 
for  her  good  works,  and  a  niece  of  the  late  Czar  of 
Russia,  found  that  the  sick  and  wounded  soldiers  in 
the  hospitals  she  visited  were  not  able  to  read  the 
Bibles  she  gav^e  them,  which  were  printed  only  in  the 
classic  Greek.  She  was  greatly  grieved  at  this,  and 
arranged  with  two  eminent  members  of  the  theological 
faculty  to  translate  the  gospels  into  the  modern  Greek. 
They  were  hastily  printed  and  circulated  in  large  num- 
bers in  the  army  at  the  queen's  expense.  She  paid  the 
translators  handsomely  for  their  work  and  bore  all  the 
cost  of  the  enterprise  from  her  private  purse.  Before 
the  war  with  Turkey  had  ended  every  soldier  in  the 
Greek  army  had  one  of  Queen  Olga's  Testaments  in 
his  knapsack. 

The  excitement  was  so  great  in  those  days  that  the 
matter  was  overlooked  and  nothing  was  said  about  it 
until  last  spring,  when  somehow  or  other  the  students 
of  the  university  provoked  an  agitation  and  held  a 
series  of  meetings  at  which  inflammatory  speeches 
were  made  against  the  desecration  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  and  the  words  of  the  Redeemer  by  trans- 
lating them  into  modern  Greek.  As  is  often  the  case, 
the  police  authorities  used  unwise  measures  to  suppress 
the  agitation,  which  only  made  it  worse,  and  it  culmi- 
nated in  a  mass-meeting  called  at  the  ruins  of  the 
Temple  of  Jupiter,  near  the  base  of  the  Acropolis  and 
near  the  edge  of  the  park  which  surrounds  the  palace. 
This    is    the    usual    place    for   public   demonstrations. 


MODERN    ATHENS  349 

Political  meetings  of  all  kinds  are  held  at  the  Olympi- 
eion,  which  Aristotle  describes  as  a  "work  of  despotic 
grandeur."  The  ruins  are  the  favorite  place  of 
promenade  on  summer  evenings,  and  demagogues, 
fanatics  and  cranks  take  the  opportunity  to  declaim 
their  views  there  as  they  do  at  Hyde  Park  in  London. 

There  were  originally  more  than  one  hundred 
columns  of  Pentelic  marble,  fifty-six  feet  high  and  five 
and  a  half  feet  in  diameter,  of  the  second  largest 
Greek  temple  known,  being  three  hundred  and  fifty- 
three  feet  in  length  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
feet  in  width,  dimensions  exceeded  only  by  those  of 
the  Temple  of  Diana  at  Ephesus.  Only  sixteen  of  the 
columns  remain.  Several  of  them  are  said  to  have 
been  taken  to  Rome  by  the  emperors;  more  have  been 
broken  up  for  building-material,  and  at  least  sixteen 
are  now  supporting  the  domes  of  mosques  in  Constan- 
tinople. 

The  meeting  called  to  discuss  the  queen's  transla- 
tions of  the  gospels  was  a  very  large  one,  many 
people  attending  purely  out  of  curiosity.  It  was 
managed  by  the  students  of  the  university,  who,  to 
emphasize  their  objections,  secured  several  copies  of 
the  book  and  burned  them  over  a  slow  fire  in  a  dra- 
matic manner.  The  police  attempted  to  disperse  the 
crowd;  stones  were  thrown,  shots  were  fired,  and  an 
infuriated  populace  showed  its  resentment  against  the 
authorities  by  driving  the  policemen  off  the  ground 
and  using  some  of  them  very  roughly.  A  general 
alarm  was  given,  soldiers  v/ere  called  out  and  for  two 
days  it  was  a  question  whether  the  military  or  the  mob 
would  rule  the  city.  The  number  of  killed  and 
wounded  was  quite  large.  At  least  seven  students 
died  in  the  streets  or  were  fatally  wounded,  and  their 


350    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

funerals  were  made  occasions  for  political  demonstra- 
tions. The  result  has  been  to  strengthen  the  support 
of  the  classic  language  and  to  make  the  good  queen 
very  unpopular.  Before  this  incident  she  was  beloved 
and  admired  by  everybody,  and  since  no  one  except 
the  demagogues  has  ever  accused  her  of  more  than 
indiscretion.  She  was  evidently  unaware  of  the  philo- 
logical controversy,  and  the  professors  who  made  her 
translation  should  have  advised  her  of  it.  Her  trans- 
lation, however,  was  never  offered  to  the  public;  no 
copy  was  ever  sold,  and  it  was  used  simply  for  the 
purpose  intended.  Her  Majesty's  critics,  however, 
made  the  most  of  the  fact  that  she  is  a  foreigner  and 
a  Russian. 

Queen  Olga's  nobility  of  character,  her  pure  life, 
her  charitable  works  and  her  spotless  dignity  as  a 
queen,  wife  and  mother  will  outlive  the  criticisms 
upon  her  indiscretion,  which  would  be  soon  forgotten 
if  the  demagogues  would  drop  the  subject.  She  is  a 
member  of  the  Greek  Church,  sincere  and  earnest 
in  the  performance  of  her  religious  duties,  and  a 
strong  believer  in  the  miraculous  power  of  an  image 
of  the  Holy  Virgin  which  attracts  many  pilgrims  to  a 
little  town  in  the  southern  part  of  Greece.  She  is 
actively  interested  in  charitable  work  also  and  rarely 
fails  to  visit  some  hospital  or  asylum  or  other  benevo- 
lent institution.  She  walks  upon  the  streets  like  the 
wife  of  any  ordinary  citizen,  is  unassuming  in  her 
manners  and  democratic  in  her  habits,  and  if  a 
stranger  should  meet  her  upon  an  errand  of  mercy  or 
when  she  is  taking  her  constitutional  he  would  never 
suspect  her  to  be  a  queen.  The  court  of  Greece  is 
said  to  be  the  purest  in  all  Europe,  for  Queen  Olga  is 
even  more  critical  than   Queen  Victoria   used    to  be 


MODERN    ATHENS  351 

concerning  the  character  and  reputation  of  those  who 
are  presented  to  her.  There  are  no  adventurers, 
either  men  or  women,  about  the  palace  at  Athens. 
She  has  brought  up  her  boys  under  her  own  eye  and 
according  to  her  own  religion,  and  everybody  agrees 
that  they  are  young  men  of  exemplary  character  and 
habits,  very  different  from  the  ordinary  prince. 

The  king  is  a  Protestant.  He  is  a  son  of  old  King 
Christian  of  Denmark,  "the  father-in-law  of  Europe;" 
a  brother  of  Queen  Alexandra  of  England,  and  of 
Dagmar,  the  empress  mother  of  Russia.  When  he 
accepted  the  throne  of  Greece  he  agreed  that  his  chil- 
dren should  be  brought  up  in  the  religion  of  the 
country,  but  declined  to  change  his  own  faith.  He 
does  not  try  to  proselyte  the  Greeks,  however,  but  his 
Lutheran  chaplain  holds  services  on  Sunday  very 
quietly  in  a  little  chapel  connected  with  the  palace. 
Protestants  connected  with  the  court  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  attend,  but  outsiders  are  never  admitted. 

The  wife  of  the  crown  prince  and  the  future  queen 
of  Greece,  is  the  Princess  Sophia,  a  sister  of  the 
Kaiser  of  Germany.  When  the  latter  consented  to 
her  marriage  it  was  with  the  understanding  that  she 
should  not  be  required  to  renounce  Protestantism, 
although  it  was  stipulated  that  her  children  were  to 
be  educated  in  the  Greek  faith.  Two  years  ago,  how- 
ever, she  voluntarily  left  the  Lutheran  Church  and  was 
baptized  in  the  Greek  communion.  Her  august 
brother  was  furious  and  did  not  hesitate  to  censure  his 
sister  openly  for  renouncing  the  religion  of  her 
fathers.  Nor  has  he  forgiven  her.  She  has  not  been 
in  Germany  since,  and  it  is  the  general  understanding 
that  she  has  not  been  invited.  No  Protestant  mis- 
sionary work  is  now  done  in  Greece,  although  there 


352     The  TURK  atid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

are  several   Protestant  churches  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  and  two  in  Athens. 

Everyone  who  knows  the  facts  testifies  that  the 
priests  of  the  Greek  Church  are  useful,  morally  and 
spiritually,  but  there  are  altogether  too  many  of  them. 
According  to  the  census  of  1889  there  were  over  eight 
thousand  priests  for  a  population  of  2,187,208,  and 
the  number  has  rapidly  increased  since  that  date,  so 
that  the  ratio  is  even  larger.  There  are  probably  ten 
thousand  priests  and  monks  in  Greece  to-day,  while 
the  membership  of  the  Greek  church  is  2,138,609.  A 
slight  calculation  will  show  you  that  this  is  an  average 
of  about  one  priest  to  every  two  hundred  souls,  so  that 
the  clerical  profession,  like  all  others,  is  suffering 
from  an  oversupply,  and  the  people  are  required  to 
support  it.  There  are  one  hundred  and  seventy  mon- 
asteries with  over  nineteen  hundred  monks,  and  nine 
nunneries  with  two  hundred  and  twenty  nuns.  The 
head  of  the  church  is  called  the  Metropolitan,  who  is 
elected  by  the  Holy  Synod,  composed  of  twenty-one 
archbishops  and  twenty-nine  bishops;  and  all  these 
have  to  be  supported  by  the  taxpayers.  Nominally 
the  church  is  under  the  care  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, but  while  his  jurisdiction  is  never 
questioned  in  theory,  he  does  not  attempt  to  exercise 
more  than  formal  ecclesiastical  authority.  The  com- 
pensation of  the  clergy  is  insignificant.  The  Metro- 
politan receives  only  $\2Q  a  month  and  the  bishops 
only  ^50.  In  Athens  the  most  prominent  of  the 
parish  clergy  do  not  receive  more  than  jSSOO  a  year, 
while  country  parsons  are  obliged  to  subsist  upon  a 
mere  pittance,  many  of  them  being  paid  only  in  the 
produce  of  the  farms  of  their  parishes.  The  monks 
belong  to  orders  which  own  property,  and  are,  there- 


MODERN    ATHENS 


353 


fore,  much  better  off.  For  these  reasons  the  regular 
clergy  in  the  country  are  compelled  to  earn  a  living 
like  their  parishioners. 

The  priests  in  the  Greek  Church  are  allowed  to 
marry.  Most  of  them  have  large  families,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  customs  of  the  country  it  is  the  rule  for  the 
sons  to  follov^r  in  the  profession  of  their  father.  As 
they  cannot  marry  a  second  wife  under  the  canon  law, 
they  imitate  Dr.  Primrose,  and  take  good  care  of  their 
first.  It  is  the  uniform  testimony  of  people  familiar  with 
the  facts  that  the  country  parsons  of  Greece  as  a  rule  are 
honorable,  sincere  and  well-meaning  men,  living  lives 
of  self-sacrifice  and  comforting  those  who  are  worse  off 
than  themselves.  The  Greek  priests  wear  their  hair 
and  beards  long  in  imitation  of  the  Saviour.  The 
ecclesiastical  dress  is  a  frock  similar  to  that  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  priests,  which  reaches  to  the  heels, 
and  a  black  chimney-pot  hat  without  a  brim.  Some- 
times a  veil  is  worn,  falling  over  the  shoulders.  They 
are  generally  men  of  fine  appearance  and  excellent 
manners.  There  are  even  more  chapels  than  priests, 
because  every  village  must  have  a  church  or  a  chapel, 
and  sometimes  villages  are  deserted.  The  inhabitants, 
for  some  reason  or  another,  remove  to  another  loca- 
tion, but  the  chapel  must  stand.  The  peasants  natu- 
rally have  a  deep  religious  sentiment,  mingled  with 
superstition,  and,  as  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul,  worship 
unknown  gods.  They  are  strong  believers  in  the 
miraculous  also,  and  consequently  there  are  several 
miracle-working  images  of  the  Holy  Virgin  and  certain 
saints. 

The  patriotism  of  the  Greeks  is  proverbial,  and 
evidences  of  the  munificence  of  the  prosperous  chil- 
dren of  this  classic  country  are  on  every  side.     I  do 


354    The  TURK  ajid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

not  know  of  any  other  city  or  any  other  land  of  similar 
population  which  shows  so  many  public  buildings  and 
benevolent  institutions  founded  by  private  individuals. 
Most  of  the  fortunes  have  been  made  abroad.  Greece 
is  not  a  money-making  country.  The  opportunities 
for  gaining  wealth  are  limited.  Agriculture  is  still  in 
a  primitive  condition;  there  is  comparatively  little  man- 
ufacturing; the  mining  resources  are  insignificant,  and 
the  commerce  and  mercantile  trade  can  never  amount 
to  much  because  of  the  meager  population.  There- 
fore, Greeks  who  are  ambitious  for  wealth  go  else- 
where. They  are  a  migrating  race.  There  are  Greek 
communities  in  every  important  city  of  the  world,  and 
they  use  the  same  methods,  practice  the  same  economy 
and  show  the  same  skill  in  trade  as  the  Jews.  It  is  a 
proverb  that  one  Greek  is  as  good  as  two  Jews  in  a 
bargain.  They  often  begin  in  a  small  way,  peddling 
fruit,  knickknacks  and  other  trifles,  but  gradually 
■extend  their  commercial  horizons  until  many  of  them 
become  mercantile  princes.  You  find  them  in  London, 
Paris,  St.  Petersburg,  Vienna  and  especially  in  Con- 
stantinople, where  nearly  one-third  of  the  population 
is  Greek,  and  the  richest  residents  belong  to  that  race. 
Throughout  Syria,  Egypt  and  along  the  coast  of  Africa 
the  larger  share  of  the  mercantile  business  is  in  the 
hands  of  Greeks.  In  the  Black  Sea  country  they 
monopolize  the  grain  trade,  and  throughout  the  East, 
from  Italy  to  Egypt  and  as  far  north  as  Budapest  and 
Odessa  they  practically  control  commercial  affairs. 

Greece  has  no  naturalization  treaties.  Like  Russia, 
the  government  never  releases  its  subjects  from  their 
obligations — once  a  Greek,  always  a  Greek.  Any 
naturalized  Greek  citizen  of  the  United  States  who 
returns  to  his  native  country  may  be  impressed  into 


MODERN    ATHENS  355 

the  army  without  ceremony  if  he  did  not  serve  his 
term  before  he  left  the  country.  The  same  rule 
applies  to  the  Greek  residents  of  England,  France  and 
all  other  countries.  Hence  the  chief  business  of  the 
United  States  minister  at  Athens  is  to  help  our  natu- 
ralized Greeks  out  of  trouble. 

Many  Greeks  are  found  in  South  America  also,  and 
in  the  Transvaal  and  other  parts  of  South  Africa. 
During  the  Boer  War  several  Greeks  had  important 
contracts  for  furnishing  supplies  to  the  British  govern- 
ment and  made  more  money  during  the  troubles  than 
they  did  while  the  country  was  at  peace.  In  the 
Argentine  Republic  are  several  important  Greek 
families.  In  fact,  wherever  they  go  they  make 
money,  and  it  is  the  ambition  of  every  Greek  to 
return  to  Athens  and  live  among  his  own  people. 
The  long  streets  of  fine  mansions  and  other  evidences 
of  wealth  and  luxury  demonstrate  that  many  have  been 
able  to  do  so. 

There  are  many  reasons  for  the  working  classes  as 
well  as  the  tradesmen  to  emigrate.  Wages  are  low, 
although  laborers  are  scarce,  and  particularly 
mechanics.  The  earnings  of  those  who  remain  in  the 
country  have  not  improved  since  the  war  with  Turkey, 
but  are  lower  than  before  because  wages  are  paid  in 
a  depreciated  paper  currency  worth  not  more  than 
sixty  per  cent  of  its  former  value.  The  wages  of  ordi- 
nary laborers  run  from  twenty  to  fifty  cents  a  day,  and 
those  of  skilled  mechanics  from  fifty  to  eighty  cents  a 
day.  The  law  which  requires  military  service  of  every 
citizen  drives  a  good  many  young  men  from  the 
country,  for  it  compels  them  to  waste  the  best  years 
of  their  life.  There  is  no  reason  why  Greece  should 
have  an  army.     If  she  had  none  she  would  be  much 


356    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

better  off.  Her  military  history  is  not  at  all  flat- 
tering, and  during  the  late  war  with  Turkey  it  was 
clearly  demonstrated  that  the  people  had  neither 
military  skill  nor  courage.  If  the  parliament  would 
abolish  the  army  and  navy,  leaving  just  enough 
soldiers  to  preserve  the  peace,  and  rest  entirely  upon 
the  protection  of  the  great  Powers  of  Europe,  it  would 
be  a  blessing  to  the  people  and  relieve  them  from  an 
enormous  burden  of  taxation.  Many  thousand  able- 
bodied  young  men  would  be  released  from  a  military 
servitude  which  not  only  keeps  them  from  the  fields 
and  factories,  but  unfits  them  for  labor  after  their 
term  of  duty  has  expired.  It  would  also  remove  from 
the  sons  of  the  upper  classes  a  temptation  which  often 
proves  fatal  to  success  in  life.  Opportunities  are  so 
few  in  Greece  that  educated  young  men  must  seek 
employment  under  the  government  or  obtain  commis- 
sions in  the  army.  Under  the  present  system  of 
politics  the  former  can  only  look  forward  to  an  uncer- 
tain and  an  unprofitable  career,  while  there  is  even 
less  to  encourage  the  ambitious  in  the  army.  The 
number  of  officers  is  so  much  in  excess  of  the  require- 
ments that  there  is  nothing  for  them  to  do  but  to 
spend  their  time  in  the  coffee-houses  and  in  worse 
forms  of  dissipation.  The  streets  of  Athens  and  other 
cities  of  Greece  are  crowded  with  men  in  uniform,  and 
if  you  will  enter  any  cafe  or  stop  at  one  of  the  many 
groups  of  idlers  in  public  places  you  may  notice  that 
at  least  one-third  and  sometimes  more  than  half  of  all 
those  present  wear  the  uniform  of  officers  of  high 
rank.  I  have  been  told  that  there  is  an  officer  for 
every  three  privates  in  the  Greek  army,  and  certainly 
that  proportion  exists  in  Athens,  although  it  may  not 
be  so  large  in  other  parts  of  the  country. 


MODERN    ATHENS 


357 


Most  of  the  public  institutions  at  Athens  were 
founded  and  endowed  by  the  private  means  of  Greeks 
who  have  made  fortunes  abroad.  Others  have  left 
large  legacies  directly  to  the  government.  That  has 
occurred  several  times  in  the  United  States,  but  not 
often  in  other  countries.  Several  men  in  their  wills 
have  left  money  to  be  applied  toward  the  payment  of 
the  Greek  national  debt.  One  man,  not  long  ago, 
who  evidently  feared  that  his  money  might  be  stolen, 
required  his  executors  to  purchase  a  stated  amount  of 
government  bonds  and  burn  them  in  the  presence  of  a 
committee.  Some  years  ago  a  man  left  two  hotels  to 
the  Greek  government.  They  stand  on  the  Place  de 
la  Concorde,  and  yield  a  good  rental,  which  goes  into 
the  public  treasury. 

One  of  the  most  notable  acts  of  patriotism  is  told  of 
a  Greek  barber  in  the  city  of  New  York,  who,  dying, 
left  his  entire  estate  to  the  University  of  Athens.  He 
was  not  an  educated  man,  but  was  proud  of  the  classic 
traditions  of  his  country,  and  gave  more  than  Carnegie 
or  Rockefeller  to  the  cause  of  education.  The 
amount  was  only  ^150,  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the 
equipment  of  his  barber  shop,  his  razors,  and  doubtless 
the  bottles  of  hair-tonic  that  ornamented  its  shelves, 
but  it  was  all  that  he  had. 

Somebody  should  give  something  for  repairing 
the  streets  and  roads.  With  the  exception  of  the 
principal  thoroughfares,  they  are  very  bad,  and  often 
impassable. 

The  University  of  Athens  Vv-as  founded  about  1835. 
It  is  conducted  on  the  German  plan.  Many  of  the  pro- 
fessors are  graduates  of  German  universities,  and  the 
German  language  is  heard  about  the  building  more 
frequently  than  any  other  except  Greek.     The  institu- 


358    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

tion  has  a  large  amount  of  property,  from  which  it 
draws  a  considerable  revenue,  but  several  of  the  chairs 
have  been  handsomely  endowed  by  private  individuals. 

The  National  Library,  which  has  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  modern  buildings  in  the  world,  is  the  legacy 
of  the  Vallianos  brothers,  grain-merchants  doing  busi- 
ness at  Odessa  and  the  ports  of  the  Black  Sea.  A 
marble  statue  of  one  of  them  stands  in  front  of  the 
building. 

The  National  Museum  was  given  to  the  people  by 
George  Averof,  a  cotton-merchant  in  Egypt,  who  also 
founded  a  military  school  and  established  a  model 
reformatory  for  children. 

The  exposition  building,  called  the  Zappeion, 
intended  for  temporary  exhibitions  of  art  and  indus- 
try, is  the  gift  of  the  Zappas  brothers,  grain-merchants 
in  Roumania. 

The  building  of  the  Academy  ot  Sciences,  which  is 
the  most  beautiful  modern  structure  in  Europe,  and 
the  Royal  Observatory  were  erected  and  endowed  by 
Baron  Sina,  a  Greek  banker  in  Vienna. 

The  Arsakion,  a  college  for  young  women,  was 
founded  and  richly  endowed  by  Mr.  Arsakis,  a  Greek 
merchant  in  Vienna.  The  Varvakion,  a  manual  training- 
school  and  gymnasium  for  boys,  was  founded  by  Mr. 
Varvakes,  a  raisin  merchant.  The  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute was  the  gift  of  Mr.  Metzorios,  a  merchant  of 
Epirus.  The  Aretesian,  a  surgical  institute,  was  founded 
by  Dr.  Areteas,  a  poor  boy,  who  became  an  eminent 
surgeon  and  left  1,000,000  francs  for  the  institution. 
Dr.  Anagnostokes,  another  eminent  surgeon,  founded  a 
hospital  for  eye  and  ear  diseases.  George  and  Mathos 
Rhizares  founded  a  theological  seminary.  The  late  Mr. 
Syngros,  a  banker,  built  an  opera-house  and  gave  it  to 


MODERN    ATHENS 


359 


the  city;  he  also  founded  a  model  prison  for  first 
offenders,  a  house  for  impoverished  women  of  rank,  a 
home  with  a  factory  for  light  employment  for  poor 
working  women,  and  also  a  home  for  the  aged  of  both 
sexes.  The  Royal  Theater  was  erected  by  a  stock 
company,  organized  by  King  George,  who  owns  three- 
fourths  of  the  stock,  and  was  intended  to  encourage 
native  writers  and  actors. 

Queen  Olga  built  a  prison  for  women.  The  Crown 
Princess  Sophia  built  a  hospital  for  children  and 
reorganized  and  reequipped  in  German  style  the  mili- 
tary hospital.  The  ex-Queen  Amalia  of  Bavaria 
founded  a  free  dispensary,  and  Haji  Costa,  a  Greek 
merchant  in  Russia,  founded  the  orphan  asylum. 

The  ancient  Stadium,  originally  built  three  hundred 
and  thirty  years  before  Christ  by  Lycurgus,  the  famous 
Athenian  statesman,  and  one  of  the  noblest,  ablest 
and  most  practical  rulers  of  Greece,  is  now  being 
restored  in  pure  white  marble  after  the  old  style,  by 
the  generosity  of  the  late  George  Averof,  who  founded 
the  National  Museum.  His  motive  was  the  same  as 
that  of  Lycurgus,  to  encourage  physical  culture  among 
the  Greeks,  who  are  very  deficient  in  that  important 
particular.  This  was  demonstrated  at  the  Olympian 
games,  which  took  place  here  in  1896.  Every  event 
with  one  exception  was  captured  by  strangers.  The 
one  exception  was  the  long  distance  race,  twenty-five 
miles,  from  the  mound  at  Marathon  to  the  Stadium  at 
Athens,  which  was  won  by  a  young  Greek  shepherd 
named  Spiridon  Louis,  and  as  a  reward,  in  addition  to 
the  prize,  the  government  gave  him  a  monopoly  of  the 
sale  of  water  from  the  springs  of  Marousi,  the  favorite 
drinking-water  of  the  Greeks.  This  spring  is  a  popu- 
lar resort  on   the  side  of    the  Pentelikos  Mountain, 


36o    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

near  Tatoi,  the  summer  residence  of  the  king.  There 
is  a  large  sale  of  the  water  in  Athens,  and  it  is  brought 
in  fresh  from  the  spring  every  morning  in  sheep-skins 
and  in  large  earthen  jars.  Louis,  the  runner,  is  doing 
a  good  business,  and  has  increased  the  demand  by- 
representing  that  its  use  gave  him  the  strength  and 
speed  which  won  the  Marathon  race. 

The  representatives  of  American  colleges  who 
appeared  in  the  games  of  1896  acquitted  themselves 
with  distinguished  honor  and  carried  off  their  share  of 
the  prizes.  One  of  the  remarkable  incidents  was  the 
capture  by  Robert  Garrett  of  Baltimore,  then  of 
Princeton  University,  of  the  prize  for  discus-throwing, 
a  classic  Greek  game.  J\Ir.  Garrett  had  never  seen  a 
discus  until  his  arrival  in  Athens,  but  outplayed  the 
Greeks  in  their  own  game  on  their  own  field. 

The  new  Stadium  will  be  a  beautiful  structure  of 
marble,  six  hundred  and  seventy  feet  long  and  one 
hundred  and  nine  feet  broad,  with  sixty  rows  of  seats 
of  pure  white  marble,  rising  one  upon  the  other  and 
accommodating  thirty  thousand  spectators.  It  is  an 
ideal  place  for  football  and  similar  athletics,  and  when 
finished  will  surpass  every  other  field  for  sports  in 
ancient  or  modern  times.  The  cost  is  comparatively 
small  in  Greece,  because  the  extensive  quarries  of 
Pentelikos  yield  their  marble  treasures  for  only  the 
cost  of  cutting  and  transportation,  and  no  doubt  Mr. 
Averof's  munificence  will  inspire  an  ambition  among 
his  countrymen  to  develop  their  physical  as  well  as 
their  intellectual  qualities. 

A  shrine  of  history  in  which  all  lovers  of  liberty 
feel  an  interest  is  the  little  town  of  Mesolongion,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  kingdom,  where,  during  the 
revolution  against  the  Turks  in   1823,  Marco  Bozzaris 


MODERN    ATHENS  361 

gained  immortality.  He  is  buried  under  an  insignifi- 
cant monument  near  a  military  hospital,  and  near  by 
is  a  tomb  containing  the  heart  of  Lord  Byron,  who 
died  there.  His  body  was  conveyed  to  England.  A 
monument  was  erected  to  Byron  at  Mesolongion  in 
1881,  and  a  beautiful  group  in  marble,  representing 
him  protecting  a  beautiful  female,  symbolizing  Greece, 
from  a  ferocious  barbarian,  signifying  Turkey,  has 
recently  been  placed  in  one  of  the  parks  of  Athens. 

The  connection  of  Lord  Byron  with  the  emancipa- 
tion of  Greece  was  more  sentimental  than  otherwise. 
It  is  true  that  during  the  war  for  liberty  he  offered  his 
services  to  the  Greek  patriots  and  brought  them 
several  thousand  dollars  of  his  own  money,  which  was 
sadly  needed  by  the  revolutionary  leaders.  He 
loaned  £4,000  toward  the  equipment  of  a  Greek  fleet, 
and  assisted  the  patriots  to  borrow  money  in  London, 
where  he  did  much  to  awaken  sympathy  for  the 
gallant  struggle  they  were  making  against  the  Turks. 
He  enlisted  a  company  of  adventurers  and  drilled 
them  at  Mesolongion  for  several  months,  but  they 
made  endless  trouble,  and  he  was  finally  compelled  to 
pay  them  large  sums  of  money  and  send  them  away. 
It  was  a  motley  gang  of  desperadoes,  composed  of 
Englishmen,  Scotsmen,  Irishmen,  Americans,  Swedes, 
Norwegians,  Germans,  Swiss,  Belgians,  Russians, 
Poles,  Austrians,  Hungarians,  Danes,  Italians,  French- 
men, Servians,  Bulgarians  and  representatives  of  every 
other  race  and  nation  who  were  attracted  to  him  by 
popular  rumors  that  he  had  large  sums  of  money  to 
expend  in  the  cause  of  Grecian  liberty.  But  his  plans 
were  impracticable.  It  was  a  case  of  poetic  genius 
and  not  military  skill;  but  Byron  died  a  hero.  It 
redeemed   his  reputation,    however,   and   there    is   no 


362      The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

doubt  that  during  the  few  weeks  preceding  his  death 
he  lived  upon  a  sixpence  a  day,  as  his  biographers 
claim,  for  he  had  stripped  himself  of  every  farthing 
and  had  forfeited  all  claims  upon  his  friends  in  behalf 
of  the  Greek  cause.  His  name  will  always  be 
cherished  by  the  Greeks. 

"The  Maid  of  Athens,"  to  whom.  Byron  addressed 
the  charming  love-song  with  which  we  are  all  familiar, 
is  said  to  have  been  Miss  Theresa  Macri,  daughter  of 
the  English  vice-consul,  with  whom  he  fell  desperately 
in  love  while  he  was  a  guest  of  her  father  during  his 
first  visit  to  Greece  in  1809.  He  was  just  twenty-one 
years  old  and  was  still  unknown  to  fame,  having 
published  only  his  first  volume  of  poems.  He  lived 
with  the  family  for  several  months  and  wanted  to 
marry  the  daughter,  but  her  father  seems  to  have  been 
a  sensible  man  and  refused  his  consent.  Byron 
returned  to  England,  married  Miss  Milbanke,  sep- 
arated from  her  a  few  months  later  and  left  England 
forever.  The  next  year  he  met  the  Countess  Guicciolo 
at  Venice  and  lived  with  her,  without  the  formality  of 
a  marriage  for  seven  years,  until  he  went  to  Greece, 
where  her  father  Count  Gamba,  accompanied  him  and 
remained  with  him  until  his  death. 

Some  writers  have  asserted  that  ancient  Greece  had 
a  population  of  at  least  10,000,000,  and  certain  antiqua- 
rians have  estimated  that  the  city  of  Athens,  at  the  age 
of  Pericles,  had  a  population  of  750,000.  Now  it  has 
117,000.  But  the  best  authorities  believe  that  neither 
Athens  nor  Greece  ever  had  a  greater  population  than 
now.  It  is  certainly  true  that  the  number  of  inhabit- 
ants gradually  diminished  during  the  Turkish  tyranny 
until,  at  the  outbreak  of  the  revolution  in  1821,  there 
were  only  766,747  people  in  Greece.     After  the  revo- 


MODERN    ATHENS 


563 


lution  the  population  began  to  increase  gradually  until 
in  1890  it  had  passed  two  millions,  more  than  three 
times  the  number  when  the  present  government  was 
formed,  notwithstanding  the  large  emigration.  The 
natural  increase  is  about  2.4  per  cent  per  year,  very 
nearly  the  same  as  that  of  the  United  States. 
Seventy-eight  per  cent  of  the  population  live  in  the 
country  and  twenty-two  per  cent  in  the  towns.  A 
good  many  of  the  so-called  towns  are  small  villages  of 
farmers.  It  is  the  custom  in  Greece  for  the  people  to 
live  in  communities  and  go  to  their  farms  every 
morning.  This  practice  was  necessary  for  mutual 
protection  in  the  days  of  the  Turks.  You  see  few 
detached  farmhouses,  and  few  country-seats,  although 
the  number  is  rapidly  increasing,  now  that  brigandage 
is  extinct.  As  a  rule,  however,  even  now,  travelers 
find  the  farmhouses  in  clusters,  and  the  farmers  going 
out  to  their  work  every  morning  with  a  lunch  of  bread 
and  olives  in  their  pockets. 

Nearly  all  the  land  that  is  capable  of  raising  crops 
is  under  cultivation,  but  the  methods  are  very  primi- 
tive, and  it  does  not  produce  anything  like  the  crops 
that  ought  to  come  from  such  soil.  The  government 
has  recently  instituted  a  general  movement  for  agri- 
cultural education,  and  has  established  schools  in  all 
the  provinces,  at  which  the  science  of  farming  is 
taught— only  the  rudiments  at  present,  because  the 
Greeks  are  very  conservative,  and  the  wise  men  who 
are  at  the  head  of  this  movement  know  better  than  to 
go  too  rapidly.  The  farms  average  about  ten  acres  in 
extent,  the  great  majority  of  them  being  less  than  two. 
They  are  cultivated  entirely  by  hand,  and  with  home- 
made implements.  The  soil  is  plowed  with  a  crooked 
stick,  similar  to  that  used  by  the  Egyptians  in  the  days 


364     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

of  Moses,  and  the  grain  is  thrashed  with  the  hoofs  of 
animals  trampling  upon  it.  Near  by  every  community 
can  be  seen  a  circular  platform  paved  with  stone, 
often  with  a  post  in  the  center.  When  the  harvest 
comes  the  grain  will  be  spread  upon  the  surface,  and 
three  or  four  animals  will  be  hitched  to  the  post  and 
driven  round  and  round  until  they  have  trampled  the 
kernels  out  of  the  husks.  Greece  does  not  grow 
enough  food  for  her  own  consumption.  At  least  sixty 
per  cent  of  the  meat,  vegetables  and  grain  consumed 
annually  are  imported,  which  is  entirely  unnecessary 
and  a  direct  loss  to  the  people,  because  the  trans- 
portation has  to  be  paid  for,  and  so  much  more  comes 
out  of  the  pockets  of  the  laboring  classes. 

On  a  few  large  estates  the  land  is  worked  on  shares, 
the  peasants  taking  two-thirds  of  the  produce,  and 
giving  the  other  third  in  lieu  of  the  rental,  the  land- 
lord sharing  the  losses,  as  well  as  the  profits,  when  they 
occur.  Olive  groves  are  often  managed  on  this  plan, 
and  it  is  generally  satisfactory. 

Although  square  miles  of  land  are  lying  idle,  it  is  a 
singular  fact  that  the  fields  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Athens  do  not  produce  enough  vegetables  to  supply 
the  local  market.  Nobody  seems  to  know  exactly 
why,  although  there  is  a  general  disposition  to 
attribute  the  phenomenon  to  the  natural  character- 
istics of  the  people  and  to  say  that  the  Greeks  are 
poor  gardeners.  The  king  sets  a  good  example.  He 
has  an  estate  and  country-house  about  fifteen  miles 
from  Athens,  and  several  thousand  acres  of  land 
under  a  high  state  of  cultivation.  It  is  a  sort  of 
experimental  farm  in  more  senses  than  one,  at  which 
he  not  only  shows  what  can  be  done,  but  how  to  do  it, 
and  the  advantages    of  intelligent  farming.     He  has 


MODERN   ATHENS  365 

the  best  live  stock  in  Greece,  the  most  improved 
machinery,  the  best  breeds  of  cattle,  horses,  sheep, 
swine  and  poultry,  and  he  sells  milk,  vegetables  and 
other  farm-produce  in  the  local  market,  as  Victoria  of 
England  used  to  do  on  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

This  example  has  done  some  good.  It  has  made 
farming  respectable,  although  the  Greeks  have  not 
followed  the  fashion  to  any  great  extent.  In  fact,  I 
could  not  learn  of  any  native  of  wealth  or  influence 
who  has  imitated  His  Majesty  and  gone  into  the  gar- 
den-truck business.  In  another  direction  the  king  has 
done  great  good.  He  furnishes  seeds  to  all  farmers 
who  will  apply  for  them,  and  applications  are  frequent. 
He  has  also  done  a  good  deal  to  improve  the  breeds 
of  live  stock  and  poultry,  although  the  horses  and 
cattle  of  Greece  are  comparatively  poor.  The  sheep 
are  much  better. 

Dairy  farming  is  limited.  More  goat's  milk  is  sold 
than  cow's  milk.  The  natives  use  comparatively  little 
butter.  The  Greek  butter  must  be  used  promptly, 
because  it  has  a  coarse  grain  and  will  not  keep.  It 
looks  like  "smear-kase"  and  tastes  more  like  whipped 
cream  than  anything  else.  Cow's  milk  cannot  be 
obtained  outside  of  the  large  cities,  and  even  there  it 
is  scarce  and  expensive.  Nearly  all  Greeks  use  goat's 
milk.  Both  goats  and  cows  are  driven  into  town  every 
morning  and  milked  at  the  doors  of  the  customers. 
This  is  not  a  new  fashion,  but,  like  nearly  all  the 
customs  of  the  people,  can  be  traced  back  through 
many  centuries.  The  herdsman,  shuffling  through  the 
streets  with  milk-measure  in  his  hand,  behind  a  herd 
of  seven  or  eight  solemn-looking  goats,  was  probably 
as  familiar  to  the  ancients  as  he  is  to  the  Athenians  of 
to-day,  and,  viewed  in  all  its  aspects,  it  is  an  excellent 


366    The  TURK  aiid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

proposition,  because  all  the  customers  along  his 
route  are  sure  to  get  their  milk  fresh  and  pure,  and 
the  goat-herd's  honesty  is  not  tempted  by  the  con- 
venience of  the  pump.  When  he  reaches  the  house  of 
a  customer  he  milks  one  of  the  goats  into  his  measure 
and  pours  the  contents  into  a  bucket  or  the  bowl  that 
is  brought  for  him.  Some  of  the  milkmen  come  in 
with  a  pair  of  cans  strapped  over  the  back  of  a  donkey. 

As  in  South  America,  you  can  buy  turkeys  and 
geese  "on  the  hoof."  They  are  driven  in  from  the 
country  in  flocks,  so  that  customers  may  make  selec- 
tions as  they  pass  through  the  streets.  Everything 
else  is  peddled,  not  only  food  in  the  form  of  fruits, 
meats,  cakes,  bread,  vegetables,  fish,  butter  and 
cheese,  but  all  sorts  of  dry  goods  and  notions,  shoes, 
stockings  and  even  hats,  tinware,  hardware,  station- 
ery; sometimes  on  a  tray  suspended  from  the  neck  of  a 
man,  sometimes  on  a  cart,  but  oftener  upon  the  back 
of  a  donkey.  You  can  frequently  see  in  the  streets 
show-cases  with  glass  fronts  containing  all  kinds  of 
dry  goods  suspended  from  pack-saddles  of  donkeys 
and  transported  from  house  to  house,  while  the  owner 
or  attendant  bellows  an  inventory  of  his  merchandise 
and  describes  its  merits  in  a  brazen  voice.  There 
are,  however,  several  fine  shops  in  Athens.  Those  in 
the  new  quarter  of  the  city  will  compare  with  the  best 
in  our  towns  of  the  same  size. 

Other  reli-cs  of  ancient  times  are  public  cook-shops, 
found  in  the  oldest  quarter  of  the  city,  similar  to  those 
of  Naples,  where  a  variety  of  viands  are  prepared  at 
the  regular  meal-hours  and  sold  already  cooked  at  the 
most  extraordinarily  low  prices.  Housewives  go  there 
for  their  supplies  instead  of  to  the  market.  It  saves 
fuel  and  labor  and  nothing  is  wasted.     This  custom  is 


MODERN    ATHENS  367 

said  to  have  come  down  from  the  classic  period  before 
the  Christian  era,  and  then,  as  now,  professional 
cooks  used  to  go  about  the  town  with  stoves  on  wheels, 
filled  with  bright  fires  of  charcoal,  over  which  persons 
who  had  no  stoves  or  ranges  in  their  houses  could  cook 
their  meats  or  vegetables  for  a  small  fee.  It  is 
common  to  see  a  peripatetic  cook  standing  in  front  of 
a  prosperous-looking  residence,  while  the  soft  and 
genial  atmosphere  is  filled  with  the  odor  of  frying  fish 
or  roasted  rabbit. 

Foreigners  are  always  shocked  at  the  sight  of  a 
Greek  funeral.  It  is  a  spectacle  which  most  people 
desire  to  avoid,  because  the  body  of  the  dead  is 
exposed  in  an  open  hearse.  The  coffin  is  shallow,  so 
that  not  only  the  face  and  head  but  the  hands  and 
much  of  the  body  can  be  distinctly  seen  from  the 
sidewalk  as  the  procession  passes  through  the  streets. 
The  lid  of  the  coffin,  richly  upholstered  and  often 
decorated  with  garlands  and  wreaths,  is  carried  on  the 
hearse  by  the  undertaker.  The  priest,  the  relatives 
and  other  mourners  follow,  and  as  the  ghastly  spec- 
tacle passes  it  is  customary  for  bystanders  to  remove 
their  hats  and  cross  themselves.  Men  sitting  around 
the  cafes  always  rise  out  of  respect  for  the  dead  and 
stand  bareheaded  until  the  procession  has  passed.  In 
case  of  an  officer  of  the  army,  a  horse  with  an  empty 
saddle,  heavily  draped  with  crape,  is  led  by  an  orderly 
in  advance  of  the  hearse. 

When  the  body  is  lowered  to  the  grave  the  coffin-lid 
is  placed  upon  it,  but  does  not  close  down,  and  the 
earth  is  allowed  to  come  in  direct  contact,  to  hasten 
decay.  The  superstition  in  the  popular  mind  is  that 
the  soul  of  the  departed  is  in  a  state  of  suspense  until 
the  temple  it  formerly  inhabited  has  turned  to  dust. 


368    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Graves  are  rented  in  the  Athens  cemeteries  for  terms 
of  years,  just  like  the  habitations  of  the  living  None 
but  the  rich  own  burial  lots.  It  is  an  evidence  of 
wealth  and  aristocracy.  The  poor  never  think  of 
buying  a  lot  or  a  tomb.  It  would  be  considered  an 
unnecessary  luxury.  At  the  end  of  the  term  for  which 
a  grave  is  rented  the  bones  are  dug  up,  put  into  a  bag, 
labeled  with  the  name  and  dates,  and  deposited  in  a 
general  receptacle. 

The  custom  of  carrying  the  body  to  the  grave  in  the 
full  sight  of  the  people  is  said  to  have  originated 
during  the  Turkish  occupation  of  Greece.  The 
country  was  in  a  state  of  chronic  revolution.  The 
importation  of  arms  and  ammunition  was  forbidden, 
and  the  revolutionists  were  in  the  habit  of  importing 
them  in  coffins.  Frequently  people  who  were 
"wanted"  by  the  police  were  assisted  to  escape  in  a 
similar  manner,  and  revolutionary  leaders  who  had 
been  banished  were  brought  back  in  coffins.  There- 
fore, as  a  precaution,  the  Turks  required  that  dead 
bodies  should  be  exposed. 


XVII 

SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES 

The  Acropolis  of  Athens  is  the  most  famous  hill  in 
the  universe.  The  columns  of  the  Parthenon  are 
familiar  to  all  the  world.  They  are  the  remains  of  the 
most  majestic  monument  ever  erected  by  human 
hands,  and  did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  it  was 
intended  for  the  honor  and  the  worship  of  a  woman? 
The  lord  mayor  of  an  Irish  city,  in  accepting  the 
honor  of  an  election,  declared  that  if  it  had  not  been 
for  his  mother  he  would  not  have  stood  before  his 
constituents  that  day.  We  might  all  pay  a  similar 
tribute  to  Eve,  yet  no  monument  has  ever  been 
erected  to  her  memory,  and  the  place  of  her  burial 
has  been  forgotten,  if  anybody  ever  knew  where  it 
was.  Three  graves  of  Adam  are  pointed  out  to 
tourists  in  the  East,  but  not  even  one  of  Eve. 

We  estimate  the  Greeks  of  the  age  of  Pericles  as 
having  reached  the  highest  degree  of  development  in 
intellect,  philosophy  and  wisdom.  We  teach  our 
children  their  precepts.  Our  students  of  medicine, 
art,  science  and  theology  must  study  them  in  prepara- 
tion for  their  life-work.  It  is  a  popular  belief  that  the 
summit  of  human  culture  was  reached  at  the  period  of 
the  building  of  the  Parthenon.  Yet  the  ancient  Greeks 
believed  that  the  source  of  their  learning,  wisdom  and 
strength  was  a  woman,  and  to  her  they  raised  that 
matchless  tribute,  the  admiration  of  all  ages,  the  most 
perfect  example  of  architecture  ever  conceived,  and  in 
it   they   not   only  worshiped    a   woman,  Athena,  but 

369 


370    The  TURK  ajid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

made  sacrifices  to  one  whom  they  had  deified.  Its 
ruined  columns  stand  to-day  as  a  testimonial  to  woman- 
hood. An  old  friend  used  to  say  that  the  best  rule  he 
ever  found  in  life  was,  "When  in  doubt,  do  as  your 
wife  tells  you,"  and  for  his  authority  he  might  have 
referred  to  the  ancient  Greeks. 

The  Acropolis  is  a  mighty  rock  which  rises  five 
hundred  feet  in  what  was  the  center  of  ancient  Athens, 
when  that  city  had  200,000  population.  On  all  sides 
but  one  the  walls  are  perpendicular.  Toward  the  west 
there  is  a  slope  by  which  the  summit  is  reached  by  a 
winding  roadway.  In  ancient  times  there  was  a  series 
of  stairways,  and  the  Propylaea,  or  gateway,  was  as 
remarkable  as  the  temples  at  the  top.  There  was  also 
a  road  for  chariots,  and  we  can  see  the  ruts  made  by  the 
wheels  in  the  pavements.  The  Acropolis  is  visible  from 
a  long  distance.  It  looms  up  in  majesty  as  the  city  is 
approached  from  all  directions,  and  the  columns  of  the 
Parthenon  are  dwarfed  by  its  height.  The  first  effect, 
therefore,  upon  strangers  is  disappointing.  The  ruins 
are  not  as  grand  as  they  expected,  and  they  feel  a  little 
sorry  that  they  came,  but  familiarity  breeds  respect  in 
this  instance.  The  columns  grow  larger  and  grander  and 
more  beautiful  every  time  you  look  at  them,  and  those 
who  have  had  the  privilege  of  visiting  the  Acropolis 
by  moonlight  will  retain  an  impression  that  cannot  be 
effaced  from  their  memory  by  anything  else  that  may 
remain  for  their  enjoyment.  Age  and  the  salt  air 
from  the  sea  have  given  the  marble  a  rusty  color, 
which  detracts  from  its  purity,  but  gives  it  a  tone  of 
richness  and  ripeness  entirely  appropriate  to  a  ruin. 
You  would  not  like  to  see  a  ruin  of  pure  white  marble. 
It  would  look  incongruous,  although  you  can  imagine 
how   beautiful    the    Parthenon    and    the    surrounding 


SHRINES   AND   TEMPLES  371 

buildings  must  have  been  when  they  were  fresh  and 
new. 

The  temple  to  Athena  (Minerva)  and  the  surround- 
ing buildings  were  destroyed  when  the  Venetians 
bombarded  Athens  to  drive  out  the  Turks.  The  latter, 
who  held  the  city,  intrenched  themselves  on  the  Acrop- 
olis and  concealed  their  store  of  powder  in  the 
Parthenon.  The  Acropolis,  therefore,  became  the 
target  for  the  Venetian  artillerymen,  and  on  Friday, 
September  26,  1687,  ^  German  lieutenant  fired  a  bomb 
which  fell  into  the  magazine  and  was  followed  by  an 
explosion  which  destroyed  forever  the  most  glorious 
architectural  triumph  of  men.  Three  hundred  Turkish 
soldiers  lost  their  lives  in  the  explosion  and  their 
commander,  having  no  ammunition,  was  compelled  to 
surrender  three  days  later.  No  attempt  was  ever 
made  to  restore  the  building.  On  the  contrary,  the 
Acropolis  has  been  plundered  century  after  century 
for  building-material,  and  for  works  of  art.  Some  of 
the  finest  of  the  marbles  were  burned  to  make  lime  for 
the  masonry  in  building  modern  Athens,  and  Lord 
Elgin,  the  British  minister  to  Greece,  in  the  earlier 
part  of  the  last  century,  removed  the  most  beautiful 
and  valuable  of  the  sculptures,  which  are  now  exhib- 
ited in  the  British  Museum,  under  the  name  of  "The 
Elgin  Marbles."  Within  late  years  much  care  has 
been  taken  in  protecting  and  preserving  the  treasures 
that  remain,  and  the  Grecian  government  is  exceed- 
ingly anxious  to  recover  the  works  of  art  which  have 
been  taken  from  the  Acropolis  to  foreign  lands.  On 
several  occasions  during  the  last  half-century  overtures 
have  been  made  to  the  British  government  to  restore 
the  Elgin  marbles,  but  they  have  met  with  no  favor- 
able response.     Mr.  Gladstone  gave  the  Ionian  Islands 


372    The  TURK  a7id  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

back  to  Greece  when  he  was  prime  minister  and 
received  the  gratitude  of  a  nation.  The  Athenians 
would  be  equally  grateful  if  King  Edward  would 
return  to  them  the  sculptures  which  once  decorated 
the  temple  of  Miner\-a,  and  were  taken  away  with  the 
authority  of  the  Turkish  government,  and  not  with  the 
consent  of  Greece. 

It  is  difficult  to  avoid  moralizing  about  the  Acrop- 
olis. I  do  not  know  of  any  other  place  on  earth, 
unless  it  be  Bethlehem,  Jerusalem,  or  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome,  or  Westminster  Abbey  in  London,  which  fur- 
nishes such  food  for  thought.  The  columns  of  the 
Parthenon  are  older  than  anything  in  Rome  except 
the  obelisk  in  the  center  of  the  Piazza  del  Popolo,  and 
older  than  anything  in  London  except  a  similar  obelisk 
that  stands  on  the  Thames  embankment.  Both  of 
those  were  transplanted  from  the  soil  in  which  the 
Pharaohs  originally  erected  them,  to  show  how  Chris- 
tian nations  sometimes  despoil  the  heathen.  It  is  an 
old  trick.  Rome  is  filled  with  objects  of  art  of  which 
her  emperors  robbed  the  Athenians.  The  Parthenon  has 
had  a  varied  experience.  It  was  first  a  temple  to  the 
Goddess  of  Wisdom;  for  several  hundred  years  it  was 
a  church  for  the  worship  of  a  Jewish  peasant;  and  at 
the  time  of  its  destruction  it  had  been  for  centuries  a 
mosque  dedicated  to  a  camel-driver. 

The  most  important  incident  that  has  occurred  upon 
the  Acropolis  in  recent  times,  and  it  has  a  personal 
interest  for  us,  was  the  discovery  in  1900  by  Mr. 
Eugene  P.  Andrews  of  Oswego,  New  York,  then  a 
student  at  the  American  School  of  Classical  Studies 
and  now  an  instructor  at  Cornell  University,  of  an 
inscription  to  Nero  upon  the  architrave  of  the  Parthe- 
non, which  had  been  unknown  for  a  dozen  centuries. 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES 


373 


It  was  a  great  achievement,  one  of  the  most  notable 
events  in  modern  archeology.  He  thought  that 
certain  small  holes  in  the  marble  must  have  served 
some  useful  purpose,  and  so  he  let  himself  down  from 
the  top  by  a  rope  ladder  similar  to  those  that  sailors 
use,  and  discovered  that  they  had  once  been  occupied 
by  nails  which  supported  brass  letters.  By  taking  a 
series  of  impressions  with  damp  wrapping-paper,  he 
secured  a  diagram,  from  which  he  was  able  to  trace 
the  Greek  letters,  and  the  inscription,  which  had 
never  been  suspected,  was  announced  to  the  scholars 
of  the  world  by  Professor  Richardson,  the  director  of 
the  American  school. 

The  American  Archeological  Institute  has  a  school 
in  Athens  similar  to  that  in  Rome,  which  was  founded 
several  years  later.  The  object  is  to  furnish  American 
scholars  an  opportunity  to  study  art,  archeology, 
ancient  history,  literature  and  the  classic  languages 
upon  the  ground  and  in  the  atmosphere  in  which  they 
were  developed. 

He  who  would  the  poet  understand 

Must  read  him  in  the  poet's  land. 
I  may  not  have  the  quotation  exact,  but  that  is  the 
idea.  In  addition  to  the  branches  of  study  I  have 
named,  the  students  hear  lectures  on  Greek  law,  reli- 
gion, philosophy  and  upon  all  subjects  dealing  with  the 
institutions,  the  social  life  and  the  industrial  activity  of 
the  ancients.  They  are  conducted  about  the  country 
to  various  points  of  historic  and  archeological  inter- 
est, such  as  Thebes,  Delphi,  Olympia,  Mycenae, 
Sparta  and  Thessaly,  and  are  allowed  to  tread  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  old  philosophers.  They  hear  lectures 
in  the  museums,  which  are  illustrated  by  object- 
lessons.     The    museums    of   Athens   are   particularly 


374    T:^^  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

rich  in  relics  of  the  archaic  period  of  Greece — before 
the  Persian  war,  480  B.C. — and  the  director  gives  that 
branch  his  special  attention.  Other  members  of  the 
faculty  lecture  on  history,  poetry,  politics  and  kindred 
subjects.  The  students  also  have  the  advantage  of 
similar  institutions  founded  by  the  English,  French, 
German  and  Austrian  governments.  All  the  national 
schools  of  archeology  are  affiliated,  and  each  has  its 
special  line  of  investigation,  selected  after  a  consulta- 
tion, in  order  that  they  may  not  interfere  with  or 
duplicate  the  work  of  each  other.  The  American 
school  is  the  strongest  of  all,  the  French  next,  then 
the  German,  and  last  the  English.  The  German  school, 
however,  is  particularly  fortunate  in  having  for  its 
director  Dr.  Doerpfeld,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Schliemann 
in  the  archeological  work  at  Troy.  The  students  of 
one  school  are  admitted  to  the  lectures  of  the  others 
and  also  have  the  use  of  their  libraries.  Most  of  them 
are  fitting  themselves  for  instructors  in  Greek  and 
archeology,  and  nearly  all  of  the  graduates  since  the 
school  was  founded  in  1882  now  occupy  chairs  in  the 
faculties  of  American  colleges  and  universities. 

The  present  director  is  Professor  Richardson,  who 
was  graduated  from  Yale  in  the  class  of  '69,  and  was 
for  a  long  time  professor  of  Greek  language  and  liter- 
ature at  Dartmouth  College.  He  has  been  at  Athens 
since  1893.  Each  year  an  assistant  is  selected  from 
one  of  the  contributing  colleges.  Professor  Thomas 
Day  Seymour,  of  Yale,  was  chairman  of  the  Managing 
Committee  of  the  school  for  fourteen  years,  but 
recently  has  been  succeeded  by  Professor  Wheeler,  of 
Columbia.  Part  of  its  income  is  precarious,  consisting 
of  contributions  from  various  colleges  and  private 
individuals,    and    if   they  should    withdraw    it   would 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES  375 

leave  the  institution  without  funds.     There  ought  to 
be  a  larger  endowment,  so  as  to  secure  permanency. 
At  present  the  endowment  amounts  to  about  $65,000. 
The  society  owns  a  fine  building,  well  adapted  to  its 
purposes,   and  a  considerable  area  of  ground  which 
may  be   found  available  in  the  future.     Among  the 
most  generous  donors  for  excavations  is  Colonel  Hay, 
secretary  of  state,  who  has  recently  placed  a  consider- 
able sum  of  money  in  the  hands  of  the  trustees,  to  be 
used  as  a  foundation  for  the  library  in  memory  of  his 
son,  the  late  Adelbert  Stone  Hay.     There  is  no  limit 
to  the  number  of  students.     Anyone  is  received  who 
has  had  a  thorough  classical  training  at  an  American 
college.     It  is  important  that  applicants  should  gain 
as  great  command  as  possible  of  the  German,  French 
and    modern    Greek    languages    before    entering    the 
school  in  order  that  they  may  enjoy  the  full  benefit  of 
their  opportunities.     The  tuition  fee  is  nominal,  and 
the  cost  of  living  at  Athens  is  anything  that  one  may 
choose  to  make  it.     At  the  large  hotels  board  and 
lodging  can  be  obtained  for  ^14  a  week  and  upward, 
and  at  the  smaller  hotels  and  in  private  families,  from 
^5    and    upward.     Six    fellowships   with    stipends    of 
$600  each,  and  one  with  a  stipend  of  Si, 000,  will  be 
awarded    annually,  upon  competitive    examination,  to 
bachelors  of  art  of  the  universities  and  colleges  of  the 
United  States,  and  may  be  extended   for  two  years, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  the  faculty,  to  students  in 
the   Schools   of    Classical  Studies   at  Athens  and    m 
Rome,  and  in  the  School  of  Oriental  Study  in  Palestine 
—all  under  the  general  care  of  the  Archeological  Insti- 
tute of  America. 

The  fellows  are  required  to  pursue  original  mvesti- 
gations  and  twice  a  year  to  report  the  results. 


376    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

Everyone  can  appreciate  the  advantages  offered  by 
the  American  school  to  those  who  are  seeking  a  career 
as  scholars  or  instructors.  It  gives  a  vitality  to  their 
learning  which  they  cannot  get  in  books,  and  the 
same  books  read  in  Greece  are  much  more  luminous 
than  in  the  ciass-rooms  at  home.  The  original  work 
done  by  the  students  is  also  of  great  importance  to 
them,  and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  this  institution 
has  taken  the  lead  and  is  recognized  as  the  most 
important  among  the  several  national  colleges  at 
Athens.  The  Greek  government  is  liberal  in  its 
encouragement  and  the  king  feels  a  deep  interest  in 
all  its  concerns. 

Original  work  has  been  going  on  since  1886,  and  the 
results  of  the  excavations  may  be  seen  in  the  National 
Museum,  at  the  Argive  Heraeum,  at  Athens,  and  in  a 
volume  recently  published  by  Professor  Waldstcin, 
now  lecturer  at  King's  College,  Cambridge,  who  was 
the  director  for  some  years.  Some  of  the  most  inter- 
esting of  the  explorations  have  been  at  Icaria,  the  first 
seat  of  the  worship  of  Bacchus,  and  the  home  of 
Thespis,  the  inventor  of  the  theater.  He  was  the  first 
man  to  present  a  play  to  the  public.  There  had  been 
recitations  and  declamations  upon  the  platform  before 
his  time,  but  he  introduced  dialogues  and  plots,  and 
invented  the  mask  so  that  one  man-actor  could  take 
two  parts.  Women  never  appeared  on  the  stage  in 
those  days.  The  feminine  parts  were  always  taken  by 
men.  The  director  of  the  American  school  discovered 
the  original  home  of  Thespis  and  it  was  excavated 
under  his  direction.  The  Americans  were  not  allowed, 
however,  to  take  anything  away.  Under  the  laws  of 
Greece  the  finder  is  protected  in  publishing  reports 
of  his  discoveries,  and  may  receive  the  honor  and  the 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES  377 

credit,  but  the  tangible  results  are  the  property  of  the 
government  or  of  the  owner  of  the  land,  who,  how- 
ever, to  retain  them,  must  erect  a  museum  upon  the 
ground  for  their  public  exhibition. 

The  American  School  has  done  a  good  deal  of  work 
at  Plataea,  the  scene  of  a  great  battle  between  the 
Greeks  and  the  Persians  in  479  B.C.,  but  found  little 
of  value.  The  excavations  were  more  successful  at 
Eretria,  at  one  time  an  important  city,  which  was 
destroyed  by  the  Persians  before  the  battle  of  Mara- 
thon. Here  they  uncovered  a  theater,  a  temple  to 
Bacchus,  a  fine  lot  of  baths,  and  the  most  perfect  gym- 
nasium that  has  ever  been  found. 

Near  Argos  the  American  School,  under  Dr.  Wald- 
stein,  discovered  and  excavated  the  ruins  of  a 
magnificent  temple  of  Hera,  which  was  destroyed  in 
the  year  423  B.C.,  when  one  of  the  priestesses  went  to 
sleep  without  blowing  out  her  candle;  the  decorations 
caught  fire  and  the  temple  was  burned.  This  was  a 
rich  find,  for,  in  addition  to  the  temple,  they  uncovered 
several  other  buildings  of  interest,  and  brought  to  the 
National  Museum  at  Athens  a  number  of  valuable 
statues  and  a  large  quantity  of  bronze  and  terra-cotta 
work. 

The  excavations  of  the  American  students  at  Corinth 
I  have  referred  to  in  a  previous  chapter.  They 
began  work  there  in  1896,  and  will  continue  in  a  sys- 
tematic manner  until  the  old  city  is  entirely  uncovered 
and  opened  to  the  public,  as  Pompeii  is  to-day.  Old 
Corinth  was  a  very  populous  city,  larger  than  Athens, 
and,  at  the  height  of  its  glory  in  325  B.C.,  had  a  pop- 
ulation of  nearly  200,000,  with  many  magnificent 
structures,  which  suffered  from  earthquakes,  and  were 
plundered   and  destroyed  by  the   Romans  and  other 


378     The  TURK  aiid  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

invaders.  Julius  Caesar  rebuilt  a  portion  of  the  old 
city,  but  it  was  again  destroyed  by  his  successors,  and 
finally  disappeared  and  was  covered  from  the  sight  of 
men  by  the  drifting  sands.  The  American  School  has 
purchased  part  of  the  site,  and,  with  the  encourage- 
ment of  the  Greek  government,  is  working  as  rapidly 
as  its  funds  will  permit;  but  is  entirely  dependent,  as 
I  have  said,  upon  the  generosity  of  private  supporters. 
The  German  Institute  receives  $5,000  a  year  from  its 
government  for  excavations;  the  French  have  an  even 
larger  allowance,  and  the  English  are  spending  large 
sums.  The  American  explorers  alone  lack  funds,  yet 
from  them  the  most  important  results  are  expected. 

Mars  Hill,  from  which  Paul  delivered  the  eloquent 
address  of  which  we  have  an  account  in  Chapter  xvii 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  beginning,  "Ye  men  of 
Athens,  I  perceive  that  in  all  things  ye  are  very 
religious" — not  "too  superstitious,"  as  the  old  version 
has  it — stands  across  a  little  gully  from  the  Acropolis 
at  Athens.  It  was  then  occupied  by  the  Athenian 
courts,  called  the  Areopagus,  and  the  learned  men, 
lawyers,  philosophers,  teachers  and  orators  of  the  city 
met  there  every  day  to  exchange  ideas  and  talk  politics. 
The  ancient  court  of  the  Areopagus,  composed  of  the 
most  venerable  and  eminent  Athenians,  and  exercising 
supreme  jurisdiction  in  certain  cases  involving  life, 
sat  there  regularly  to  hear  arguments  and  announce 
their  decisions.  The  hill  is  said  to  have  derived  its 
name  from  the  fact  that  Ares,  or  Mars,  was  the  first 
person  tried  there  for  murder.  It  was  there  also  that 
Orestes  was  arraigned  and  acquitted  of  criminal 
responsibility  for  the  murder  of  his  mother,  Clytem- 
nestra.  Many  other  famous  trials  took  place  upon  the 
hill.     Lawyers  were  never  allowed  to  appear  before  an 


% 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES  ^y^ 

Athenian  court,  still  less  the  Areopagus.     Every  man 
had  to  plead  his  own  case, 

St.  Paul  appeared  upon  the  Areopagus  five  hundred 
and  twenty  years  after  the  birth  of  Socrates  and  three 
hundred  and  seventy  years  after  the  death  of  Demos- 
thenes, but  Greece  was  still  filled  with  learned  men. 
Upon  its  stage  the  masterpieces  of  Aeschylus, 
Sophocles,  Euripides  and  Aristophanes  were  first  pre- 
sented to  the  public. 

Phaleron,  the  summer-resort  of  the  Athenians  upon 
the  bay,  where  there  are  several  hotels  and  bathing 
establishments  and  a  little  villa  for  the  pleasure  of  the 
royal  family,  is  the  place  where  Demosthenes  used  to 
go  to  practice  speaking.  It  was  there,  according  to 
the  legend,  that  he  picked  up  pebbles  and  put  them 
under  his  tongue  to  prevent  him  from  stammering. 

Near  by  are  two  tombs  hewn  in  the  living  rock, 
accessible  at  low  tide  but  often  submerged  by  the 
sea.  One  of  them  is  popularly  believed  to  be  the 
tomb  of  Themistocles,  one  of  the  greatest  men  of 
ancient  Greece,  who  persuaded  his  fellow  citizens  to 
devote  the  proceeds  of  the  silver  mine  of  Laurion  to 
the  construction  of  a  naval  fleet,  which  made  Athens 
for  a  time  preeminent  upon  the  sea.  But  this  fleet 
did  not  last  very  long,  and  Athens  absolutely  had  her 
ships  taken  from  her  at  the  close  of  the  fifth  cen- 
tury B.C. 

Across  the  bay  is  the  island  of  Salamis,  the  scene  of 
one  of  the  most  famous  sea  battles  in  all  history, 
when  Xerxes,  King  of  Persia,  witnessed  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  fleet  of  one  thousand  vessels  from  a  rocky 
promontory  which  projects  into  the  bay.  The  point  is 
called  "the  throne  of  Xerxes."  The  poet  Aeschylus 
was  on  one  of  the  ships  and  distinguished  himself  in 


38o     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  battle.  Eight  years  later,  in  March,  472,  his 
tragedy,  based  upon  it,  was  performed  in  the  theater 
of  Dionysus  at  Athens. 

Socrates  was  born  in  Athens  in  the  year  469  B.C. 
He  was  originally  a  sculptor,  but  abandoned  art  and 
became  an  astrologer.  He  afterwards  taught  in  the 
market-place,  surrounded  by  his  students  and  disciples, 
and  it  was  to  them  that  he  delivered  the  opinions 
which  brought  him  into  collision  with  the  authorities, 
and  particularly  the  priests.  The  trial  of  Socrates  was 
similar  to  that  of  Christ.  Both  were  accused  of  sedi- 
tion, of  denying  the  gods,  of  introducing  a  new 
religion,  of  corrupting  the  minds  of  the  youth  and 
disturbing  the  tranquillity  of  the  people.  Socrates  was 
arraigned  for  this  crime  before  the  courts,  as  Christ  was 
before  the  Sanhedrin.  Both  admitted  the  truth  of  the 
charge,  while  they  denied  the  criminality.  The 
answer  of  Socrates  to  his  accusers  was  almost  the 
same  as  that  of  Jesus  before  Pilate,  four  hundred  years 
later.  He  was  convicted,  however,  and  condemned  to 
die.  Owing  to  a  superstition  about  putting  men  to 
death  during  a  festival,  the  execution  of  his  sentence 
was  postponed,  and  in  the  meantime  he  drank  his  cup 
of  hemlock  juice.  Near  the  Areopagus  are  two 
chambers  about  sixteen  feet  square,  hewn  in  the  side 
of  a  rocky  cliff.  They  are  divided  by  a  partition  with 
a  narrow  door  and  are  protected  by  gratings  of  iron 
bars,  like  the  cage  of  a  wild  beast.  The  guide-book 
calls  them  "the  prison  of  Socrates,"  and  it  is  gen- 
erally understood  among  the  people  that  he  was 
imprisoned  and  died  there,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to 
sustain  such  a  supposition. 

Demosthenes  had  a  country  home  on  the  other  side 
of  Mount  Hymettus,  which  is  as  famous  for  its  honey 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES  381 

to-day  as  it  was  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  wikl 
flowers  that  grow  in  the  soil  of  that  mountain  contain  an 
unusual  amount  of  saccharine  and  give  a  flavor  to  the 
honey  which  is  not  found  in  that  made  elsewhere. 
The  ancient  Greeks  considered  it  a  great  luxury,  and 
it  still  sustains  its  reputation  and  is  sold  to-day  in  all 
the  markets  of  Europe  for  high  prices.  Tourists  buy 
it  at  the  hotels  and  curiosity-shops  of  Athens. 

Demosthenes  was  the  son  of  a  rich  furniture-dealer, 
and  was  a  statesman,  lawyer,  orator  and  patriot.  He 
lived  nearly  a  century  after  Socrates,  and  in  the  year 
322  B.C.,  when  the  Macedonians  secured  control  of  the 
government,  fled  from  Athens  across  the  sea  into  the 
Peloponnesus.  There  he  was  followed  by  an  officer 
of  the  police  with  a  warrant  for  his  arrest.  Demos- 
thenes was  prepared  for  him  and  received  him  in  the 
temple  of  Poseidon  in  Calauria.  Rather  than  suffer 
the  humiliation  of  trial  and  imprisonment,  he  decided 
to  take  his  own  life.  Suspecting  such  an  intention, 
the  authorities  ordered  the  police  officials  to  take  pre- 
cautions to  prevent  suicide,  and  they  watched  him  very 
closely.  After  the  arrest  was  made  Demosthenes 
asked  the  officers  to  allow  him  to  write  a  note  to  his 
family,  and  sat  down  at  his  desk  to  do  so.  It  was 
noticed  that  he  frequently  moistened  the  tip  of  his  pen 
with  his  lips,  and  when  the  note  was  finished  he  fell 
lifeless  from  his  seat.     The  ink  had  been  poisoned. 

The  field  of  Marathon,  where  the  great  battle  with 
the  Persians  was  fought  in  490  B.C.,  about  twenty-five 
miles  from  Athens,  is  marked  by  a  great  mound, 
under  which  the  bones  of  the  slain  were  buried. 

Tanagra,  where,  in  455  B.C.,  the  Athenians  first 
measured  strength  and  valor  with  the  Spartans,  is  a 
little   further   north    and   has   been   one  of  the  most 


382    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

prolific  sources  of  satisfaction  to  archeologists. 
From  the  graves  around  it  have  come  those  charming 
figurines  in  painted  terra-cotta  that  are  so  highly 
prized  by  collectors.  The  quantity  of  figures  discov- 
ered there  during  the  excavations  has  been  so  great 
that  fine  examples  are  now  to  be  found  in  nearly  every 
museum,  and  tourists  can  purchase  for  a  small  sum 
imitations  largely  made  up  of  the  fragments,  which 
are  quite  as  pretty  as  the  genuine. 

West  from  Tanagra  is  Thebes,  a  famous  old  town 
founded  by  Cadmus,  the  home  of  Pindar,  the  poet,  and 
Epaminondas,  the  soldier  and  statesman.  It  was  the 
rival  of  Athens  until  Alexander  the  Great  sacked  it  in 
336  B.C.,  when  six  thousand  of  the  citizens  were  slain 
and  thirty  thousand  carried  away  as  slaves.  It  is  now 
a  sleepy  little  town  of  about  twenty-five  hundred  inhab- 
itants who  grow  fruit  and  do  other  kinds  of  farming. 
The  ruins  of  the  ancient  town  are  covered  with  rubbish 
and  the  topography  has  been  considerably  changed  by 
earthquakes.  There  is  no  hotel,  and  very  little  to 
interest  the  traveler. 

From  Thebes  one  can  go  west  to  Delphi,  the  seat  of 
the  famous  oracle  and  the  headquarters  of  the  cult  of 
Apollo,  but  it  is  a  difficult  and  uncomfortable  journey, 
requiring  several  days  on  horseback.  The  easier  route 
is  from  Corinth  by  boat,  twice  a  week,  to  a  little  town 
called  Itea.  From  there  to  Delphi  is  only  a  ride  of 
two  and  a  half  hours.  The  grandeur  of  the  scenery  and 
the  magnificent  view  of  Parnassos  are  full  compensation 
for  the  time  and  fatigue,  and  even  in  these  modern 
times  the  gorges  in  the  mountains  are  filled  with  a 
mysterious  atmosphere  which  must  have  affected  the 
imagination  of  the  ancients.  The  oracle  was  con- 
sulted, you  remember,  upon  all  affairs  of  importance, 


SHRINES  AND  TEiMPLES  383 

both  by  the  people  and  the  state,  and  its  innuencc 
was  not  diminished  by  the  ambiguity  of  its  utterances. 
The  voice  of  the  oracle  came  from  a  chasm  in  the 
rocks  which  can  not  be  identified  these  days,  probably 
because  of  earthquakes.  Above  the  chasm  the  pro. 
phetic  virgin  sat  upon  a  golden  tripod  and  uttered 
responses  which  none  but  the  priests  could  under- 
stand. Altogether  the  oracle  was  a  good  scheme  and 
its  influence  was  wholesome  among  the  people. 
Solon,  the  great  law-giver;  Plato,  the  philosopher; 
Aeschylus,  Pindar,  and  Sophocles  all  spoke  of  it  with 
great  respect. 

Modern  Delphi  is  called  Castri,  and  stands  on  part 
of  the  ancient  site,  at  an  altitude  of  twenty-one  hundred 
and  thirty  feet  above  the  gulf  of  Corinth  and  among 
the  cliffs  of  Parnassos.  There  has  been  an  enormous 
amount  of  excavating  done  there  by  the  French  School 
of  Archeology  which  has  been  rewarded  by  many 
interesting  and  important  discoveries. 

The  classic  mountain  Parnassus,  which  rises  eight 
thousand  and  seventy  feet,  may  be  comfortably 
climbed  from  Delphi,  the  ascent  being  made  most  of 
the  way  on  horseback.  Every  foot  of  the  journey  is 
crowded  with  historic  and  mythical  associations. 

The  pass  of  Thermopylae,  known  to  every  school- 
boy as  the  place  where  Leonidas  and  his  three  hundred 
Spartans  held  the  whole  Persian  army  at  bay,  is  thirty 
miles  in  a  straight  line  directly  north  from  Delphi,  on 
the  other  side  of  Parnassus,  but  nearly  three  times 
that  distance  by  the  circuitous  route  which  must  be 
traveled.  There  are  no  roads  and  it  takes  several  days 
to  make  the  journey  on  horseback.  The  pass  is  a 
narrow  ravine  or  defile  between  two  wooded  hills  and 
its    strategic     advantages     are     perfectly     apparent, 


384    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

although  the  guide-books  say  that  a  rocky  eminence 
which  formerly  overhung  the  defile  has  been  thrown 
down  by  earthquakes  and  the  gorge  has  been  consider- 
ably filled  up  by  alluvial  deposits  brought  down  by 
mountain  torrents,  so  that  the  present  appearance 
of  the  pass  gives  very  little  idea  of  what  it  must  have 
been.  It  resembles  hundreds  of  similar  gorges  in 
Colorado  and  other  parts  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
Here  Leonidas  detained  the  Persian  army  under  Xerxes 
until  the  Greeks  were  able  to  make  a  safe  retreat. 
The  exact  spot  was  afterwards  marked  by  a  monument 
with  this  inscription: 

STRANGER,  TELL  THE  SPARTANS  THAT  WE  ARE 

LYING   HERE   IN   OBEDIENCE  TO 

THEIR  COMMANDS. 

Due  north  from  Thermopylae  is  the  famous  Mount 
Olympus,  9,754  feet  high,  the  home  of  the  gods, 
which,  unfortunately,  is  now  on  Turkish  soil,  much  to 
the  sorrow  and  mortification  of  the  Greeks.  If  they 
had  their  territorial  rights  they  would  still  include 
that  noble  peak  within  their  jurisdiction. 

Mount  Ossa,  6,398  feet  high,  lies  immediately  south 
of  Olympus;  Mount  Pelion  is  farther  to  the  south, 
rising  5,308  feet  above  the  sea. 

Going  westward  from  Athens,  crossing  the  penin- 
sula by  railroad  to  Corinth,  and  then  turning  south- 
ward for  fifteen  or  sixteen  miles,  we  come  to  Mycenae, 
which  was  the  scene  of  so  much  activity  in  mytho- 
logical times,  but  its  importance  dwindled  long  before 
the  dawn  of  history.  It  was  founded  by  Perseus,  who 
raised  the  massive  walls  of  the  city  with  the  aid  of  the 
Cyclops.  Agamemnon,  the  great  soldier,  had  his  seat 
there,  and  was  not  only  the  ruler  of  that  district  but 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES  385 

the  chieftain  of  all  the  Greeks,  of  the  islands  as  well  as 
the  mainland.  He  led  them  against  Troy  and  after 
his  return  was  murdered  by  Aegisthos,  the  lover  of 
his  wife,  Clytemnestra.  Although  Orestes,  his  only 
son,  avenged  his  father's  death  and  his  mother's 
shame,  when  he  grew  up,  the  legends  do  not  tell  us 
that  he  regained  the  throne. 

The  tomb  of  the  great  Grecian  chieftain  is  well  pre- 
served and  is  one  of  the  most  striking  examples  of 
ancient  masonry.  It  is  a  sort  of  underground  temple 
in  the  shape  of  a  bee-hive,  fifty  feet  high,  and  near  it  is 
another  vaulted  sepulcher,  supposed  to  have  been  the 
tomb  of  Clytemnestra.  Extensive  excavations  have 
been  made  at  Mycenae  by  Grecian  archeologists  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Schliemann,  who  disclosed  to 
the  world  the  ruins  of  Troy.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  places  in  Greece. 

Near  the  western  boundary  of  Peloponnesus  is  Olym- 
pia,  the  scene  of  the  celebrated  games,  which  may  be 
reached  by  railway  from  Patras,  the  western  port  of 
the  Gulf  of  Corinth,  more  easily  than  from  Athens. 
It  was  never  properly  a  town,  but  was  a  group  of 
temples,  shrines,  palaces,  amphitheaters  and  public 
buildings  where  the  entire  Hellenic  world  used  to 
assemble  periodically,  for  more  than  a  thousand  years, 
and  engage  in  semi-sacred  games  founded  by  Hercules 
in  the  mythical  ages.  The  Olympic  games  reached 
their  greatest  importance  immediately  after  the 
Persian  wars,  when  they  were  partially  divested  of 
their  religious  character  and  became  a  national  testi- 
val  in  honor  of  Hellenic  unity.  Competitors  came 
from  all  the  states,  the  islands  and  the  colonies  of 
greater  Greece;  the  functions  lasted  for  five  days, 
and  a  list  of  the  victors  was  kept  in  the  archives  of 


386     The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

the  state.  The  record  begins  B.C.  776  and  is  con- 
tinued for  several  centuries  after  the  Roman  occupa- 
tion. The  winners  enjoyed  life-long  distinction,  were 
entertained  annually  at  banquets  and  festivals  at  the 
public  expense,  and  were  exempt  from  taxation. 

During  the  Roman  period  Tiberius  and  Nero  them- 
selves engaged  in  the  games,  but  about  the  third 
century  after  Christ  athletic  sports  were  degraded  by 
the  entrance  of  professionals,  and  became  a  trade. 
The  Olympic  games  were  finally  suppressed  by  the 
Roman  Emperor  Theodosius  in  the  year  394. 

Extensive  excavations  have  been  made  at  Olympia 
by  the  Germans,  who  have  spent  several  hundred 
thousand  dollars  uncovering  the  ruins  of  temples, 
palaces  and  amphitheaters  which  were  buried  from 
fifteen  to  twenty  feet  deep  under  deposits  of  sand 
and  gravel,  washed  down  by  cloud-bursts  and  floods 
from  the  mountains,  which  also  undermined  the  walls 
of  the  Hippodrome,  the  Stadium  and  other  of  the 
ancient  structures.  The  interest  in  the  excavations  at 
one  time  was  as  great  as  that  excited  at  Pompeii,  but 
very  little  of  artistic  interest  was  found. 

Still  south  of  Olympia,  near  the  extreme  end  of  the 
peninsula,  is  the  old  town  of  Sparta,  which  is  still  the 
capital  of  the  province  of  Laconia,  and  a  place  of  con- 
siderable importance.  The  remains  of  ancient  Sparta, 
however,  are  scanty  and  insignificant  and,  although 
the  modern  town  is  beautifully  located,  it  is  said  to  be 
very  unhealthy.  There  is  a  museum  there  containing 
a  large  collection  of  antiquities,  and  several  of  great 
importance.  The  guides  show  you  an  open  plain,  sur- 
rounded with  ditches,  where  the  youthful  Spartans 
used  to  wage  their  mimic  warfare.  They  show  you 
also  a  rectangular  enclosure  of  massive  stones  which 


SHRINES  AND  TEMPLES  387 

they  claim  to  be  the  ruins  of  the  tomb  of  Lconidas, 
and  several  other  fictitious  scenes  of  interest. 

For  the  classical  scholar,  the  historian,  the  arche- 
ologist,  and  lovers  of  the  picturesque,  there  is  no 
country  more  abundant  in  interest  than  Greece,  and 
although  the  accommodations  are  primitive  and  the 
means  of  transportation  are  limited,  even  the  shortest 
visit  to  the  country  will  be  full  of  gratification. 
Greece  is  now  only  four  days  from  London  and  three 
days  from  Paris,  and  in  these  times,  when  many 
people  have  exhausted  the  novelties  of  northern 
Europe,  they  will  find  the  classic  grounds  of  the 
Hellenic  peninsula  a  most  satisfactory  place  of  resort. 
Excepting  Japan,  southern  Italy  and  the  Tyrol,  no 
country  compares  with  Greece  in  the  beauty  of  its 
landscapes.  The  remarkable  purity  of  the  atmosphere 
at  Athens  enhances  the  effect  of  artificial  as  well  as 
natural  objects  of  interest.  As  in  Arizona,  distances 
are  very  deceptive.  Far-off  mountains  are  brought 
close  to  the  eye  as  with  a  field-glass,  and  as  you 
approach  them  they  recede  in  a  most  provoking  way. 
Hymettus  and  Pentelikos,  the  two  famous  mountains 
which  lie  on  either  side  of  Athens,  are  often  enveloped 
in  a  curious  pink  glow  at  sunset,  and  then,  as  the 
flame  fades  out  of  the  sky,  they  take  on  a  deep  violet 
tinge.  The  Greek  sunset  is  something  that  cannot  be 
represented  on  canvas.  Artists  and  poets  rave  about 
it,  but  it  is  beyond  their  power  to  reproduce. 

It  is  not  a  land  for  luxurious  people,  however.  The 
climate  is  more  to  be  recommended  than  the  hotels, 
but  the  natural  scenery  has  a  variety,  a  richness  and  a 
color  that  no  other  part  of  Europe  affords.  The 
foliage  and  the  flowers  are  abundant  and  beautiful,  and 
in  the  rural  districts  the   people   are   picturesque    in 


388    The  TURK  and  his  LOST  PROVINCES 

manners,  customs  and  dress.  Their  habits  and  social 
life  have  not  been  affected  by  what  we  call  the 
advances  of  modern  civilization.  In  public  conve- 
niences, however,  Greece  is  still  far  behind  the  times. 
Athens  is  the  only  place  where  the  hotels  are  toler- 
able, and  travelers  who  go  into  the  interior  must  take 
their  own  provisions  and  bedding.  Even  those  who 
make  little  excursions  by  carriage  for  a  single  day  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Athens  must  carry  a  lunch- 
basket,  because  the  inns  are  primitive  and  filthy. 
Railway  facilities  are  limited.  With  a  few  exceptions 
the  roads  are  bad,  but  they  are  gradually  improving, 
and  several  of  the  centers  of  great  interest  to  tourists 
may  now  be  reached  by  carriage.  Only  a  few  years 
ago  travelers  had  to  go  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  as 
they  do  in  the  Holy  Land.  Even  now  those  who  visit 
some  of  the  most  interesting  places  have  to  put  up 
with  discomforts,  inconveniences  and  a  good  deal  of 
dirt  and  bad  smells,  although  they  are  fully  repaid. 

FINIS. 


INDEX 


PAGK 

Abduction,  Prince  Alexan- 
der of  Bulgaria 1 74 

Abdul  Aziz 67 

Abdul  Hamid  II 54 

Abdul  Medjid 67 

Abraham,   Founder  of  the 

Turkish  Race 55 

Acropolis  of  Athens 369 

Adossides,  George 62 

Adriatic  Coast 303 

Agamemnon,  Tomb  of . . . .   384 
Agriculture  in  Bulgaria  ...   194 

in  Bosnia 290 

in  Servia 261 

in  Greece.  .342,  363 

Alexander  the  Great 14 

Alexander    of    Battenberg 

169, 174,  186,  196 

Alexander  of  Servia 248 

Alexander  II.  of  Russia . . 

167,  173.  207 

Alexander  III.  of  Russia. .   173 

Alix,  Czarina 251 

Americans  in  Bulgaria 209 

American  Board  of  Foreign 

Missions  . . .  142,  148,  209,  224 
American  School  at  Athens 

328,  372 

Anarchy  in  Bosnia 274 

Andrews,  Eugene  P.,  Dis- 
covery by 372 

Archaeological      Institute, 
American 328,  372 


Architecture  of  Constanti- 
nople      94 

Areopagus,  the 379 

Armenians     in     Const:inti- 

nople 103 

Armenian  Massacres 161 

Army,  Bosnian 280 

Bulgarian 200 

Ser\'ian 260,  269 

Turkish 84 

Assassination  of  Stambou- 

loff 182 

Assassinationsof  Sultans  55,    67 

Athens,  Modern 332 

Streets  of 333 

Climate  of 333 

Parks  of 334 

Public  Buildings  of  357 
the  Acropolis  of.  369 

Riots  in 349 

Athletic  Sports  in  Greece. .  360 
Atrocities,  Bulgarian.  14,  27,  167 

Attar  of  Roses 194,  207 

Auctions  in  Constantinople  124 
Austria,  Political  Attitude 

of 17.     34 

Austrian  Soldiers  in  Bosnia  280 
Administration  in 
Bosnia 273 

Baird,  Rev.  Dr 234 

Bakhmetefif,   Mr.,    Russian 
Agent,  Sofia 185,  216 


389 


390 


INDEX 


PACK 

Baldwin  I igo 

Bazaars  of  Constantinople..   119 

of  Sarajevo 284 

Beet-Sugar  in  Bosnia 290 

Belgrade,  City  of 257 

Berlin  Conference  1878 

M.  27,  273,  304 

Beyler  Bey  Palace 132 

Bible  in  Turkish 152,  212 

Biography  of  Sultan 62 

Bosnia,  Development  of . . .   296 

Population  of 276 

Regeneration  of...  273 

Soldiers 281 

Boundaries  of  Bulgaria. . . .    193 

Bosphorus,  the 91,  105,   142 

Blackmail  in  Macedonia. . .  228 

in  Turkey 46 

Bribery  in  Turkey 97 

Bridges,  Constantinople . . . 

40,  107 

Brigandage  in  Macedonia. .   227 

Brindisi,  Port  of 311 

Brothers,  the  Sultan's 68 

Bulgaria,  Conditions  in 20 

Histor}' 165,   195 

Relation  to  Euro- 
pe a  n    Politics 

166,   171 

Business  in  Turkey 

57.  96,  no,  120 

Byron,  Lord 360 

Castles  on  the  Bosphorus. .  143 

Castle  at  Belgrade 267 

Cattaro,  Town  of 303 

Cattle  in  Bosnia 290 

Servian  , 261 

Cemeteries,  Turkish 112 

Censorship  in  Turkey 154 


PAGE 

Ceremonies,  Mohammedan 

82,  136 

Chambers,  the  Sultan's  ...     76 
Churches,     Protestant     in 

Turkey 149 

in  Bosnia 281 

Children,  Sultan's 72,     85 

Cistern  of  1,001  Pillars 161 

Cities  of  Bulgaria 193 

Civilization,  Early,  in  Bal- 
kans      13 

Clark,  Rev.  Mr 224 

Classic  Spirit  of  Greece 335 

Clytemnestra,  Tomb  of 385 

Coat  of  Arms,  Turkish 53 

Coffee-Houses,  Turkish 47 

College  for  Girls,  Scutari..   153 
Commerce     of     Constanti- 
nople    Ill 

Concessions,     German,    in 

Turkey 18 

Conference,  Berlin,  of  1878 

14.  27,  273,  304 

Consular  Trials  in  Turkey.  156 

Conspiracies  in  Turkey 56 

in  Servia 250 

Constantinople,  Pictur- 

esqueness 91 

Filth  of 40 

Corfu,  Island  of 312 

Population  of 315 

Climate  of 315 

Corinth,  Gulf  of 318,  325 

Ancient 322 

Modern 322 

Canal  of 322 

Excavations  at 328 

Corruption  among  Turkish 

Officials 97 

Costumes,  Servian 263 


INDEX 


391 


PAGE 

Costumes,  Bulgarian 198 

Greek 319 

Cosmopolitan  Population  of 

Constantinople 10 1,  107 

Courts  in  Bosnia 289 

Turkish 157 

Cowardice  of  Sultan 55 

Crescent  as  a  Symbol 53 

Crime  in  Bosnia 274 

in  Greece 340 

Crown  Prince  of  Greece. . .  351 
Currant  Culture  in  Greece.  318 
Custom    House,  Constanti- 
nople   97,  III 

Belgrade 257 

Customs  of  Bosnia 279,  287 

Dalmatian  Coast 303 

Damascus,  Political  Exiles 

in 60 

Danube  River,  the 191 

Dardanelles,  the 91 

Delphi,  the  Oracle  of 382 

Demosthenes,  Home  of 380 

Dickinson,   Consul-General 

222,  230,  234 

Diocletian,  Palace  of 306 

Diogenes,  Home  of 32S 

Diplomatic  Protests  to  Tur- 
key      18 

Dishonesty  in  Turkey.. 41,  97 
Dogs  of  Constantinople. ...  113 
Dolma-Baghtcheh  Palace . . 

69,  131,   135 

Dorys,  George,  Biographer 

of  Sultan 62 

Draga  Oueen  of  Servia ....  248 

Education  in  Bulgaria. 200,  213 
in  Greece 338 


PAGR 

Education  in  Servia 265 

in  Turkey 152 

Editors  in  Turkey 1 54 

Electricity     Forbidden     in 

Turkey 61 

Embassies     in     Constanti- 
nople   95,  158 

Emigration  from  Greece. . .  355 
England,  Attitude  of . . .  14,     34 

Eunuchs,  Turkish 85 

Excavations  at  Corinth.  . .     328 
Agamemnon's  Tomb  384 

Bosnia 295 

Delphi 382 

Diocletian's  Palace. .  306 

Mycenae 384 

Olympia  385 

the  Acropolis 3f)9 

Thebes 382 

Tanagra 381 

Exiles,  Turkish 59 

Extra  Territoriality 156 

Eyub,  Mosque  of 89 

Fanaticism,  Religious 26 

Ferdinand,  Prince  of  Bul- 
garia  178,    1S4,    197 

Children   of 1S6 

Firemen  of  Constantinople  116 
Foot-Ball  in  Turkey,  Dan- 
gers of  58 

Foreigners    in    Constanti- 
nople       97 

France,   Political    Attitude     19 

Franchises  in  Bosnia 296 

Fruits  in  Bulgaria 207 

Fuad,  Pasha 59 

Funerals,  Greek 36? 

Galata,  City  of Q3 


392 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Gargiulo,  Mr 232 

George,   King  of  Greece . , 

313.  346,  351 

Germany,  Political  Attitude 

of 17.     34 

Gladstone  and  Bulgaria 167 

and  Greece 314 

Golden  Horn 36,     92 

Government,  Turkish  Sys- 
tem of 35,  49,  97,  102 

Grant,  General 64 

Green  Vaults  of   Constan- 

tine 137 

Greeks  in  Constantinople . .   104 
Greek  Church  in  Constanti- 
nople    352 

in  Bulgaria 186 

in  Bosnia 296 

Greece,  Climate  of 387 

Costume     of     Na- 
tives   319 

Crime  in 340 

Currant  Culture. . .  318 

Education  in 338 

Hotels  of 387 

Journey  to., 312 

Newspapers  of 338 

Olive  Trees  in 319 

Peasants 343,  363 

Politics 336,  346 

Population 362 

Prisons 342 

Professions 343 

Railways 311 

Society 337 

Guilds  in  Turkey 121 

Habits,  Turkish 45,  109 

Hadji,  Rank  of 51 

Hamlin,  Dr.  Cyrus 146 


PAGE 

Harem,  The  Sultan's  64,  70,     85 

Haskell,  Rev.  Dr 234 

Hassan  Pasha 37 

Heir  to  Servian  Throne ....  251 

to  Turkish  Throne...     68 

Helena,  Queen  of  Italy. ...  252 

Hellespont,  the 92 

Historical  Review 13 

Homer's  School  at  Stavros.  316 
Holy  Banner,  Bosnian.  .55,  136 

Holy  Mantle 40,55,   136 

Hotel  at  Belgrade 259 

Hotels,  Government,  in  Bos- 
nia    297 

Horses,  Bulgarian 201 

in  Constantinople  ...    11 1 

the  Sultan's 88 

House,  Rev.  John  Henry . . 

211,  217,  232 

Household,   the  Sultan's.. 

79.  68,     85 

Hymettus,  Mount 380 

Intemperance  in  Turkey. . .     46 
Ismet  Bey,  Sultan's  Foster- 

Brother 75 

Ithaca,  Island  of 313 

Jajce,  Bosnia 301 

Janissaries  135 

Jews  in  Bosnia 299 

in  Bulgaria 203 

in  Servia 264 

in  Constantinople....  104 

John,  St.,  of  Ryle 186 

Justice,  Turkish . .  157 

Kallay,  Count  von.  Admin- 
istration of,  in  Bosnia  . . .   273 

Kalpak,  Bulgarian  Head- 
dress   209 


INDEX 


393 


PAOB 

Karageorgeovitch  Family. . 

244,  253 

Kassuroflf,  Mrs.  Ivan  B. . . .  214 

Khans  of  Constantinople. . .  1 1 1) 

Kidnaping  in  Macedonia. . .  227 

Kindergarten  in  Sofia 212 

Labor  Unions  in  Turkey. .    121 

Lamsdorflf,  Count 25 1 

Land  Laws  in  Bosnia 289 

Language,  Bulgarian 194 

Modern  Greek. .  34S 

Servian 266 

Law  Schools  in  Bosnia 294 

Law,  Turkish 157 

Leishman,  Minister 232 

Leonidas,  Battle  of 382 

Ludskanoflf,  Bulgarian  Min- 
ister   183 

Luke,  St.,  Tomb  of 302 

Macedonia,  Conditions  in . . 

15.  30,  168 

Macedonian  Committee  26,  239 

Mahmoud  Pasha 69,  314 

Manufacturing  in  Bosnia..  292 

Marathon,  Battle  of 381 

Marco  Bozzaris 360 

Mark    Antony,     Scene    of 

Battle 315 

Market  at  Belgrade 261 

Marmora,  Sea  of 9^ 

Mars  Hill 378 

Marsh,  Rev.  Geo.  L 211 

Massacres,  Armenian 

41,  103,  161 

in  Bosnia 293 

in  Bulgaria — 15,  27,     31 

in  Macedonia.  15,  30,  168 

Mecca,  Pilgrimages  to . .  5 1,     83 

Methodists  in  Bulgaria 210 


PAUK 

Metkovic,  Town  of 3(14 

Michael,  King  of  Scrvia. .  . 

245,   269 

Milan,  King  of  Scrvia 247 

Milos,  King  of  Servia 245 

Military  Policy  in  Bosnia. .  281 
Minarets  of  Constantinople    93 
Mirko,    Prince    of    Monte- 
negro   251 

Missionaries  in   Constanti- 
nople    148 

Mohammedans    Converted 

to  Christianity 151 

Mohammedan  Fanaticism.. 

26,  44,  49,  O3,   188 

Religion 43,  54,     S3 

112,  286 

Monastery  of  Ryle 186 

Mosques  of  Constantinople 

82,  94,  III,  118,  126,  136 

Mosques  of  Sarajevo 286 

Montenegro,  Royal  Family 

of 251,  303 

Moulahs 43 

Mountains  of  Bosnia 278 

Murad  V 67 

Music,  Sultan's  Love  of . . .     77 
Mycenae 384 

Natalie.  Queen  of  Servia..  247 
Naturalized   Americans   in 

Turkey 100 

Navy,  Turkish 36 

Nephews,  the  Sultan's  ....     71 
Newspapers,    the    Sultan's 

Ideas  of 80 

in  Turkey I54 

Greek 338 

Odyssey,  Scenes  of  the 31^ 


394 


INDEX 


\ 


PAGE 

Oil  of  Roses 207 

Olga,  Queen  of  Greece.  . . .  348 

Olive  Trees  in  Greece 319 

Olympia,  Games  of 3S5 

Orient  Express 191 

Ossa,  Mount 3S4 

Ottoman  Bank  Affair 42 

Palace  at  Athens 333 

Belgrade 260 

Beyler-Bey 132 

Dolma  -  Baghtcheh . . 

69,  131,  135 

Tcheragan 67 

Yildiz  Kiosk.. 55,  79,  131 

Parliament,  Bulgarian 170 

of  Greece 345 

Parnassus,  Mount 324,  383 

Parthenon,  the 369 

Passports  in  Turkey 100 

Patras,  Town  of 317 

Patrick,  Miss  Mary  M 153 

Paul,  St,  at  Corinth 330 

Peasants  in  Bulgaria 204 

Greek 325,  343 

Peddlers  in  Constantinople  no 

Peet,  W.  W 232 

Pelion,  Mount 384 

Pentelikos,  Quarries  of . . . .  332 

Pera,  City  of 93 

Philip  of  Macedon. . .  13,  53,  208 

Philippopolis 208 

Photographs  of  Moslems. . .  50 

Pigeons  in  Turkey 118 

Pilgrims,  Moslem 51,  83 

Police,  Bosnian 282 

Political  Jealousies  in  Eu- 
rope  14,  34 

Politics,  Turkish 56 

in  Greece 336,  346 


PAOE 

Popoff,  Rev.  Marko 211 

Population  of  Bosnia 276 

of  Bulgaria 193,  209 

of  Constantinople.. . .  102 

of  Corfu 315 

of  Greece 362 

of  Macedonia 32 

of  Ser\'ia 264 

Porter,  General  Horace 362 

Porte,  the  Sublime 92,  135 

Postal  Service  in  Turkey. .  160 

Priests  in  Greece 352 

Mohammedan 

43, 102,  III 

Prisons" in  Bosnia 277 

in  Greece 342 

in  Servia 268 

Products  of  Bulgaria 203 

Professions  in  Greece 343 

Protestants  in  Bulgaria. . . .  209 

in  Constantinople... .  149 

Prunes,' Servian 261 

Public  Buildings  in  Athens  357 

Ragusa,  Town  of 304 

Railways  in  Balkans 191 

in  Bosnia 277 

in  Greece 311,  325 

in  Turkey 105 

Ransoms    paid     in    Mace- 
donia   228 

Rebellion  in  Balkans  ...  15,  30 
Religious    Character,    Sul- 
tan's    83 

Religions  in  Balkans. . .  .32,  34 

Richardson,  Professor 374 

Riots  in  Athens 349 

Robert  College 70,  142 

Roman  Occupation  of  Bal- 
kans    14 


INDEX 


395 


PAGE 

Roman  Remains  in  Bosnia.  295 
Roman  Catholics  in  Bosnia  298 
Roumania,  Conditions  in . .     20 

Rugs,  Turkish 112 

Rumelia,  Eastern 15 

Rumili  Hisar 143 

Russian     Interference     in 

Balkans 14.  34,  165 

Russo-Turkish  War 14,     34 

Said  Pasha 38 

Salona,  Town  of 306 

Salamis,  Island  of 379 

San  Stefano,  Treaty  of. .  14,  168 

Sarafoff,  Boris 28,  230 

Sarajevo,  Capital  of  Bosnia  277 
Schools,  Protestant  in  Tur- 
key   1 50 

in  Bulgaria 213 

Mohammedan 43 

Scutari,  City  of 93 

Women's  College..  153 

Schuyler,  Eugene 167,  172 

Selamlik,  the 82 

Seraglio,  the 55,  92,  132 

Servia,  Independence  of. .  .  244 

Conditions  in 20 

Kings  of 245,  269 

Conspiracies 250 

Capital  of 257 

Palace  of 260 

Population  of 264 

Political  Situation. .  243 

Sheik-ul-Islam 44,  83,  loi 

Shepherd,  a  Greek 321 

Shipka,  Battle  of 207 

Shopping  in  Constantinople  120 

Sisters,  the  Sultan's 70 

Sobran je,  the  Bulgarian . . . 
170,  176 


Skupslnina,    Servian    Par- 
liament    259 

St.  Sophia,  Mosque  of 12O 

Sofia,  City  of 195 

Softas 43 

Society  in  Greece 336 

Socrates,  Prison  of 380 

Spalato,  Town  of 3c/) 

Stadium  at  Athens 359 

Stambouloflf,  Stepan 

175.  182,  196 

Stamboul,  City  of 92 

Stavrefif,  the  As.sa.s.sin 182 

Stoiloff,    Minister    of    Bul- 
garia     iSo 

Stone,  Miss  Ellen  M 

16,  187,  217,  235 

Streets  of  Constantinople. .     95 
Students  in  Constantinople  147 

Sublime  Porte,  the 92,  135 

Sultan,  Family  of 54 

Habits  of  35,49,  50. 

54.  61,  63,  75    82 

Jewels 139 

Policy  of 23,.     63 

Skill  in  Diplomacy     17 
Superstitions — 61,     75 

Superstitions,  Turkish 118 

Sultanas,  the 65,     85 

Tanagra,  Excavations  at..  381 

Taxes  in  Bulgaria 202 

Telephones  in  the  Balkans.  192 

in  Turkey 61 

Temperance  of  Moslems' . .     46 

Tesla,  Nikola 300 

Thebes 38a 

Themistocles,  Tomb  of 379 

Thermopylae.  Pass  of 3S3 

Timotheus  at  Corinth 330 


396 


INDEX 


Tirnova,  Ancient  Capital..  i88 

Titles  of  the  Sultan 55 

Tobacco  in  Bosnia 290 

Tombs  of  the  Sultans 89 

Trajan,  Emperor 14 

Travel  in  Greece 312 

Treasury  of  the  Sultan 137 

Treaty  of  Berlin  14,  27,  273,  304 

Tsilka,  Mr.  and  Mrs 218 

Turkish  Characteristics 

45.  109,  112 

Cruelties 293 

Virtues 289 

Invasion  of  Balkans    14 

Ulysses,  Landing  Place 313 


PAGE 

Vaciloflf,  Cyril 222 

Vatralsky,  Stoyan 216 

Virtues  of  the  Turks 289 

Vulkovitch,     Assassination 
of 182 

Wealth  of  Greeks 354 

Wages  in  Bulgaria 202 

Washburn,  Rev.  Dr 144 

Women  of  Constantinople..  109 
Worship  in  Bosnia 296 

Yachts,  the  Embassy 159 

Yildiz  Kiosk 55,  79,  80,  131 

"Young  Turkey"  Party  24,    67 


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